What an old smelter meant to me growing up

The place where our fathers and grandfathers made a living.

When I was growing up in Douglas, Arizona there was a smelter that was the center of the community. It employed our fathers and grandfathers. Its company had a mercantile at the busiest intersection of downtown. Everywhere you went, there were signs of why it was part of all of our lives. Each day you could see the smoke laying low over the tallest buildings. Each night, the shadow of the stacks were symbols that…