Denomination: Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox presence in Bisbee goes back to the late 1880s. While some of these early immigrants went into business, most went to work in the mines. Their importance for the local economy can be seen in Bisbee’s “copper man” statue, for which a Serbian miner served as model. Many of these early immigrants became American citizens, but they retained a love for the Orthodox Christian faith of their homeland. Newspaper articles document visits by early priests for baptisms and special occasions – most notably Fr. Sebastian Dabovich, American-born son of Serbian immigrants who was canonized in 2015 as St. Sebastian of Jackson and San Francisco.
