Globe, city, seat (1881) of Gila county, east-central Arizona, U.S. It lies along Pinal Creek in the foothills between the Pinal and Apache mountains. Miami, its sister city, is 6 miles (10 km) west. Globe originated as a mining camp at Ramboz Peak and was moved to the present site after the discovery, in 1875, of silver on the nearby San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. Founded a year later, the town was named for a globe-shaped piece of high-grade silver. Not silver, but copper found beneath the silver formed the basis for the city’s economic development and remains the major source of income. The city’s other economic activities are milling, lumbering, cattle raising, and tourism.
Nearby is the Besh-ba-gowah Archaeological Park containing the pre-Columbian Hohokam-Salado ruins of Besh-ba-gowah (Apache: “Place of Metal” or “Place of Hard Rock”) and a museum of artifacts. Other places of interest in the region are the Southwestern Archeological Center (at Gila Pueblo), Tonto National Monument and Forest, Theodore Roosevelt Lake and Dam (1911), San Carlos Lake and Coolidge Dam (1929), and the Salt River Canyon. Inc. 1907. Pop. (2000) 7,486; (2010) 7,532.