Contention 's rail depot became superfluous when rail service was extended late in 1882 to Fairbank , 4 miles south , and thus closer to Tombstone . The discovery of water at Tombstone allowed the erection of mill sites there rendering the San Pedro River mill sites superfluous ; when the Contention Mine and the silver mines in Tombstone flooded in 1886 and 1887 after the 1887 Sonora earthquake , the mills were forced to shut down , and Contention City suffered a fatal blow . The population began to leave , and the post office shut down on November 26 , 1888 . Other than a handful of local ranchers , the town was gone by 1890
1887 Sonora earthquake
1887 Sonora earthquake
Contention City, Arizona