 The town site was centered between the two mills on the east bank of the river.Lots sold fast, and the town grew quickly to over a hundred people within a few months.The Contention City Post Office was established on April 6, 1880, and at its peak in the mid-1880s, the town was home to John McDermott's saloon, the Western Hotel, a blacksmith, a butcher shop, several general stores, and a Chinese laundry, and was a stop on two stage lines connecting the town to Tombstone and Tucson.