In 1864, the U.S. government created a territorial outpost to provide protection for settlers in the Gila Valley. This camp, named for Arizona's first governor, John N. Goodwin, was destined for disaster. There were unethical contractors, whose adobe buildings crumbled in just a few short years, a spring that swarmed with malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and sickness and disease so prevalent that they were forced to abandon the camp.

On August 12, 1876 a "New Post on the Gila" was to be selected to replace Camp Goodwin, which had been abandoned. The new location, seven miles above Camp Goodwin in Graham County, would come to be known as Camp Thomas in honor of Major General George W. Thomas of Civil War fame. It wouldn't be until 1882 that the name would be officially changed to the current Fort Thomas.

By the time it was known as Fort Thomas there were already 27 buildings at the fort. They were all adobe buildings with shingle roofs. Officers' quarters were heated by stoves and fireplaces and other buildings by stoves. They even had water piped into all the buildings, but alas, there was no sewage system. Malaria remained a problem, however, and Fort Thomas was often called the worst Army post in the United States. Because of the flagrant fraud and monetary abuse in building Camp Goodwin (Fort Thomas' predecessor), and the fact that Camp Goodwin was a complete loss, no funds were made available for Fort Thomas. So, two years after it was begun, in 1879, the Fort consisted of only five structures, two adobe barracks, a guardhouse, an adjutant's office and a two-room shack for use by the commanding officer and his family. The soldiers built these themselves.

It was not until 1884 that the government agreed to make funds available and a decent fort was built. After the capture of Geronimo in 1886, troops were gradually withdrawn and the post was given up to the Department of the Interior. Present day Fort Thomas got its name from the military Fort, but not before it had successively been called Clantonville, Camp Thomas, Maxey, and finally Fort Thomas. The early "town," regardless of the current name, had a somewhat shady reputation and left much to be desired, with houses of prostitution and saloons making up the majority of its businesses. It grew considerably in 1895 when the railroad (now Southern Pacific) had to halt construction for more than a year when the Apaches refused to allow the railroad across reservation land. Fort Thomas also served as a Wells Fargo Station for a number of years.

Today, some twenty miles from Safford, the fair-sized community of Fort Thomas is a friendly town filled with hardworking residents. Its quiet and serene community is a far cry from its rough and colorful beginnings. With famous names like Geronimo to the famous Western artist, Federick Remington (who spent several months at Camp Thomas sketching and riding with the troops) to the founder of the International Lions, Fort Thomas can claim an interesting place in history.

Snapshots in time:

• 1900s The names of Tuttle and Bud Ming are prominent. Mr. Tuttle owned the town's hotel/saloon/general store/livery stable, along with several houses. There was also an electric plant, a Chinese restaurant, a movie house, a flour mill, and a druggist.
• 1920s Mr. Tuttle had an electric plant that serviced only the buildings and houses he owned. Sometime in the late 1920's some enterprising man put in an electric plant between where McEuen's store stands today and the high school building, and started furnishing electricity to some of the other people in town. Also in these early years, Fort Thomas had a large train depot, where the train let off or took on passengers and from where large herds of cattle were shipped to market by ranchers of the surrounding area. The train depot, of course, had a telephone of a sort, and it was here in 1926 that the townspeople gathered to find out the results of the Jack Dempsey Heavyweight Championship fight.
• 1925 Ft. Thomas completed their new high school building, which is still in use to this day (remodeled, of course).
• 1930s Farmers began putting down irrigation wells. The water table around the Fort Thomas area dropped and good drinking water was not easy to find. It was at this time that many people remembered taking their barrels to Mr. Rhode's place to get fresh drinking water. There was a big lilac bush that smelled so good as they started up his lane, and the price of a barrel of water was 25 cents, which could be paid with eggs, chickens, meat, flour, or whatever you had.
• 1931 Emery Public Schools consolidated with the Ft. Thomas Public Schools.
• 1940s Electricity came to everyone from Ashurst to the San Carlos Indian Reservation line by October of 1941. Telephone lines followed shortly. When telephones were first put in at Fort Thomas there were only four of them. One was in the Virgil McEuen store, one in the home of County Supervisor Willie Hinton, one in the home of the County Highway Department Foreman, Ned Curtis, and the fourth one, a pay phone, was installed in the janitor closet at the Fort Thomas High School. It was from this pay phone that all school business was transacted, and it cost the principal a dime every time he made a call. There were not many telephones in Fort Thomas until the 1960s.
• 1950s In March of 1959 a fire broke out in the early morning hours at Fort Thomas High School. The entire building was smoke damaged and the Home Economics room and the Industrial Arts shop were destroyed. Restoration of the building was completed by the time school began in September of 1959.
• 1960s A new red brick elementary school was begun on the hill just behind the old elementary school building that had been built in 1917. The new building was completed and they started holding classes in it when the students came back from their Christmas vacation in January of 1964.