Jerome (Arizona)

Yavapai County

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Jerome is a city in Yavapai County in the U.S. state of Arizona. Jerome has 343 inhabitants on an area of 16.5 square km. The city is affected by the Arizona State Route 89 and is located about two hours north of Phoenix. In Jerome also is the Jerome State Historic Park.

Eponym

Jerome was added to a document on March 8, 1898 and named for Eugene Murray Jerome, a New York judge and investor who owned the rights to the mines, which he had exploited from 1883. Jerome was a cousin of Jennie Churchill and is thus in a narrow relationship relative to Winston Churchill, later Prime Minister of England.

History

Jerome was a small excavation site of the local Yavapai. The Spaniards were the first Europeans to 1582/83 the Verde Valley explored. Antonio de Espejo and a troop of conquistadors came through the area to search for " El Cibola " ( the mythical Seven Cities of Gold ). Locals showed them a place where they won copper for their jewelry, which later became known as Cleopatra Hill ( Cleopatra Hill). 1598 were gold -seeking Spaniards led by " Marcos Farfan de los Godos " in the area. 22 years later, even Jesuit priest visited the pits. 1720, the Spaniards came back. They worked the mines for a few years until they were driven out by Indians. Your studs and tools were found a century later by the American prospectors. 1863 was discovered in the vicinity of Prescott gold, the country was then swamped by American prospectors and miners. Bloody battles and massacres ensued and lasted until the Yavapai General George Crook subdued in winter 1872/1873. The Yavapi became the Camp Verde Reservation and later relocated to the San Carlos Reservation.

It was in 1875 when the famous Army scout Al Sieber roamed the Verde Valley on its exploration rides. When he saw the old mines on the hill side of Cleopatra in the Mingus Mountains, he realized that they had potential and let his 1876 claim ( Claim) Register. It was not long until other treasure hunters followed its route. Angus McKinnon and M. A. Ruffner fixed their claims shortly thereafter. Another treasure hunter was Nora " Butter" Brown, an enterprising woman who opened the first brothel in Jerome. 1883 bought agent on behalf of Eugene Murray Jerome their rights to the claims for $ 15,500 from the three explorers. The late Senator William A. Clark of Montana leased the mineral rights in 1888, a year later he bought the claim completely and formed the United Verde Copper Company. The United Verde mine eventually produced over a billion dollars in copper, gold and silver.

Little Daisy Mine

In the year 1912/1913 founded " Rawhide " Jimmy Douglas, as the new king of the Mine Little Daisy Mine.

Douglas built in 1916 for his family a huge mansion and a hotel ( Little Daisy Hotel ) to also accommodate wealthy investors and customers. The Mansion was a part of the Jerome State Historic Park.

But by mining it came to countless landslides. 1918, a fire destroyed 22 miles mine shafts. Then they tried to put up with dynamite the mine shafts again. Due to the explosions there were frequent small earthquakes. The highest point of the copper mining and profits was achieved in 1929. As the copper price in 1935 dropped to five cents per pound, bought Phelps Dodge on the mine for $ 21 million. Only three years later (1938 ), the Little Daisy Mine closed ( as a second major mine ) by the declining profits and also as a result of the Great Depression.

But In 1953, the last copper mine in Jerome, the Phelps Dodge mine. About 50 residents in the late 1950s were still living in the formerly large city. In its heyday in 1929 Jerome had a population of 15,000 inhabitants, a hospital, a school, a high school, a club house, about 12 brothels and almost 100 saloons.

National park

The mine and its environment was provided as Jerome State Historic Park under protection. In the 1970s came artists, in the next decade tourists to the area. 2009, the park was closed for reasons of cost, although he earned around $ 7 million per year.

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