Monday, October 2, 2017

Jerome, Arizona. A Ghost Town.


In 1903, the New York Times declared that Jerome was the "Wickedest City in the West." Jerome, a billion dollar copper mining mecca, was once a booming city in Arizona. It is said that the owner of the Verde Copper Company, William Andrews Clark, provided a heady mix of booze, opium, gambling and flesh peddlers for his delighted miners. Now, it's a touristy ghost town carved into Cleopatra Hill like a tiered wedding cake. The Jerome Grand Hotel is said to be one of the most haunted places in Arizona - with numerous spine tingling tales attached to it like a bloody tick: including the ghost of Claude Harvey, whose body was found murdered under the hotel's old elevator shaft. 


At 5,000 feet, there's a great view of the barren and sprawling Verde Valley. 




The color of the bulb hints at the crumbling structure's former business.  


A nice rental. 



Do you see the climbers scaling the building?


They are the only ghosts you are guaranteed to see in town. 


Well, there's this guy too. 


No trip to Jerome is complete without a pit stop at Desert Diamond Distillery in Cottonwood, Arizona. Real spirits!


I wish we would have glided along on one of the many ghost tours while in Jerome. Instead, we hightailed it back down to the Red Rocks of Sedona - not wanting to risk encountering "Headless Charlie" or "the Lady in Red" after dark. (female ghosts always seem to be wearing red or white) There are 88 miles of darkened, memory filled tunnels beneath the old town. It could be an underground playground for ghosts in the bowels of night. You never know. 


The Awesome Links:


P.S. These days, no tale is as scary as real life. My heart goes out to the friends and family of those killed in Las Vegas. 

16 comments:

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I visited Jerome on a visit to AZ a few years ago and found it to be a very quirky but fun place to visit. Lots of antique stores and cafes and motorcycle riders parked outside the buildings. Nearby, we found a wonderful winery to have lunch and enjoy the beautiful grapevine views of the valley. It's definitely worth a visit!

Jackie McGuinness said...

Been there a few times! Love your header!!!

NCSue said...

Looks like a fun place!
Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2017/10/at-this-bridge.html

carol l mckenna said...

Lovely post and beautiful and fun photos of the ghost town ~ thanks, ^_^

A ShutterBug Explores aka (A Creative Harbor)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

yep, life itself is scary these days ... still that ghost tour would probably be quite interesting. I will have to ask our Arizona relatives if they've visited.

Photo Cache said...

This is a charming town to visit when In AZ.

Worth a Thousand Words

Lady Fi said...

What a fabulous place! And lovely shots.

DJan said...

What a cool place to visit.. and leave! :-)

betty-NZ said...

This looks like a fun place to visit!

Spare Parts and Pics said...

Sounds like my kind of place!! I'm pretty sure I've driven through Jerome (years ago) but didn't take the time to explore. That was BC (before camera). Great post!

Photos by Stan said...

Thanks for the delightful post! Jerome was well worth the drive from Sedona several years ago. Pat described it quite well above: quirky and full of motorcycles. My wife found a pottery shop where she special ordered plates, which were mailed to us weeks later. Your post jogged our memories....

Linda Hensley said...

Is the sky always blue when you travel? Looks like a very pretty place to be, which makes me wonder why Jerome was so wicked. Oh yeah, booze, opium, etc. :)

Ruth said...

Jerome is one of the most wonderful places I have visited. We stopped by several years ago and have been wanting to go back ever since. We went to the mining areas and ate delicious BBQ. I have the best memories of this little town. #TPThursday

Michele {Malaysian Meanders} said...

Ooooh, spooky. Those crumbling buildings would be great to photograph. Wouldn't want to encounter any ghosts, though.

Budget Travel Talk said...

Hi, I sure enjoyed your tour around the most wicked town in the west!

Pat Tillett said...

I love Jerome! Been there several times, and it really is a quirky place. Back in the day, it was much more popular with bikers, than artists. These days, it's the perfect mixture of quirkiness from all quarters. There are also a couple of great restaurants there. I love the Verde Valley because of it's barrenness. Great post Sharon! I Love this entire part of the country!