JEROME

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The wickedest town in Arizona — 1903

Step by step, I walk the sloped sidewalks of Jerome, a boom mining town located in the Black Hills of Yavapai County, centrally sited in Arizona. I hear the voices of yesteryear whispering in my ear, rich with the history of Jerome, a town incorporated in 1899, a town which would be given many, many titles with the passing of time. Moving slowly up and down the sidewalks, viewing relics of the boomtown, I realize I am striding through a past era in the state’s annals when the thriving mining town accommodated the needs and desires of miners and opportunists, sporting gambling halls, bordellos, and saloons. And I imagine the sounds of the bygone days of Jerome.

As I peer upward toward the “J” on Cleopatra Hill, my imagination leads me back, perhaps as far back as 700 A.D., when the Hohokam culture discovered the brightly colored rocks of azurite, malachite, and other copper-bearing minerals. I hear squeals of excitement with the find, their contemplating how to use the precious stones for decorations and jewelry, as the Yavapai would do centuries later.

Gaining elevation, I look at the old wooden remains of mining habitations, scattered on the hillside. Concentrating, I close my eyes and envision Morris Ruffner, prospector, trying to convince the McKinnon brothers from Prescott to invest in his mine in the 1870s because he thought someday it would be worth millions. My mind hears his persuading them to dig a forty-five-foot shaft with pick and shovel: “Come on! We are going to be rich! Copper! Copper! Copper!”

In 1876, the first claim in Jerome was staked. One of the titles Jerome bears today is that of a U.S. Bicentennial City, as declared in 1976, Jerome’s one hundredth birthday.

Seeing some of the metal remnants of the copper industry on my stroll through historic Jerome, I envision disappointment when low funding prompted these first prospectors to sell their claims to wealthier investors such as Eugene Jerome, a prominent New York financier who was not enthused about funding the mining claim on Cleopatra Hill until his wife and her sister raised $200,000 to invest. Imagine his surprise! Despite the town’s being his namesake, Eugene Jerome never laid eyes on the town incorporated as “Jerome” in 1899.

The growth of the United Verde Copper Company, established in 1883, and later under the leadership of Williams Andrews Clark, spurred growth in Jerome. After removing millions of dollars’ worth of copper from the mines, Jerome earned the name of the Billion Dollar Copper Camp.

Another step in elevation and another move into my historical reverie. As I view the renovated buildings, such as the Central Hotel, the Chamber of Commerce building, and the Haunted Hamburger Restaurant standing tall on the sloping streets of Jerome, I perceive the clatter of the turn of the century when the copper industry prompted growth such as the miner houses, the businesses, and downtown restaurants. Bordellos were extremely popular, as were gambling halls and saloons. I hear them! I hear the raucous individuals of many different ethnicities carousing and roaming the streets of young Jerome.

“Hey, boys, want a good time?”

Interestingly, the unruliness continued relentlessly until Jerome’s reputation for wildness reached near and far. In 1903, The New York Sun newspaper proclaimed Jerome to be “The Wickedest Town in Arizona.”

Unconcerned whether Jerome was wicked or not, “Rawhide” James Douglas saw his chance for prosperity and purchased the Little Daisy Mine in 1912. Standing under the “largest wooden headframe still standing in Arizona,” I glimpse the ghosts of miners, working with grit and might to remove the ore up from the mine with a shaft 1900 feet deep. Reading the sign of the historic Little Daisy Mine, my mind races as I picture the wealth: “four million tons of ore…producing 397,000 tons of copper, 221 tons of silver and 5 and half tons of gold.” Wow!

Wealth indeed! In 1916, on a hill near the Little Daisy Mine, James S. Douglas built his mansion, a landmark then and a landmark today. Currently, the Douglas Mansion is part of the Jerome State Historic Park, available for tours. And what a preservation of Jerome’s prosperous epoch! As I enter each room of the mansion, I can just make out the voices of bygone spirits whispering of the affluent.

By 1920, Jerome boasted a population between 10,000 and 15,000. As time passed, though, the mining boom that had built Jerome up also brought about its demise. The explosions intrinsic to ore mining corrupted the solid rock of the Cleopatra hillside, prompting major landslides. This is evidenced by the old jail’s pulling apart and sliding approximately 225 feet, landing in the middle of Hull Avenue in the mid-1930s. Think of the inmates’ shock! “WHOAAAAAAAAA!”

The copper boom halted drastically by 1953. By 1970, the population of Jerome had withered to an estimated 300, earning it the title of America’s Largest Ghost City. Refusing to accept the death of the unique town, Jerome’s few remaining inhabitants rallied to develop income streams to resuscitate the City in the Sky. Artisans moved to Jerome to establish a new era in the arts. Today, Jerome is a tourist attraction not to be missed.

Trying to climb uphill in the heat of the day to view the splendor of the Jerome Grand Hotel, I hear a voice as from a spirit urging, “I think you can! I think you can! I think you can!” Laughing at my arduous effort, I realize it is NOT an apparition of the past; it is Don, my husband, coaxing me along!

If you have the opportunity to visit Jerome, you will be thrilled to walk the sidewalks of history. Jerome is located on Highway 89 between Sedona and Prescott, overlooking the beautiful Verde Valley and the towns of Cottonwood and Clarkdale.

From our family to yours, may you have opportunities to travel through the history of the great Southwest; may the voices talking to you, real or imagined, be kind; and may all your walks through life be DOWNHILL! Blessings!