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Jerome,
located four miles from Clarkdale, is often described as “America’s
most vertical community”. It is located high on Cleopatra’s
Hill (5200 feet) and offers views that stretch across the entire
Verde Valley. Founded in 1876, the town sits above what was
once the largest copper mine in Arizona, producing an astonishing
3 million pounds of copper ore each month. Men and women from
all over the country made their way to Jerome to find work and
a new way of life.
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Essentially
a roaring mining camp, it soon became a hotbed of prostitution,
gambling and vice. On February 9, 1903 the New York Sun
proclaimed Jerome to be “the wickedest town in the
West”. The buildings that made up Jerome’s
ill-famed Prostitution Row are still standing. The town’s
Population peaked at about 15,000 in the late 1920’s.
The Depression of the ‘30’s further slowed
operations and in 1953 Phelps Dodge finally closed the
mine. Five years later Jerome’s population had dwindled
to a ghostly clan of less than 100 residents. |
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In
1967 the town was designated a National Historic District
by the federal government. During the past 35 years Jerome’s
personality has undergone a dramatic transformation. Today
it is a bustling community of more than 450 residents, including
a diversity of artists, craft people, musicians, writers,
bed and breakfast owners, gift shop proprietors, and fallen-down
building landlords.
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Is
Jerome a place to live? Yes, if you are the adventurous
type seeking a total escape from today’s frenetic
world. Certainly it is a place worth visiting. Many of
the buildings being used by present-day businesses are
more than 100 years old. An ongoing restoration program
continues to gradually resurrect Jerome’s historical
luster. For more information about Jerome, visit www.azjerome.com.
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Three
miles past Old Cottonwood is the lovely town of Clarksdale,
home to approximately 3800 residents. It, too, is situated along
the Verde River. The original town site is recognized as a Historic
District on the National Register of Historic Places. Founded
in 1911, Clarkdale is renowned as Arizona’s first master-planned
community. The recently restored Downtown Business District,
the central core of Clarkdale’s government and cultural
interests, received $1.5 million for streetscape improvements
in 2005. The area provides a little of everything: light manufacturing,
internet- based businesses, museums, an antique store, a coffee
house and a restaurant.
Overlooked
the past ten years by the more rapid development of Sedona
and Cottonwood, Clarkdale is now beginning to attract fresh
interest from both homebuyers and real estate investors.
This year two new subdivisions have come on the market.
One is the Highlands, offering home sites starting in the
low $100,000’s. The other is Mountain Gate, a planned
community offering a wide choice of homes and town houses.
Both of these developments offer splendid opportunities
to get in on the ground floor of what is probably one of
the next important residential growth area in the Verde
Valley. |
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The
Clarkdale rail station, formerly the depot for transporting
processed copper ore to San Francisco, now hosts a scenic excursion
train operated by the Verde Canyon Railroad. It offers travelers
a four-hour round trip along the Verde River through the ecosystem
of the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness area. On the town’s
northeast border, surrounded by a number of hiking trails, the
National Forest Service operates the 42-acre Tuzigoot National
Monument, a restored 800-year old Sinagua pueblo and history
museum.
High
school students in Clarkdale attend the Mingus Union High School
in Cottonwood. Kindergarten through Eighth Grade studies are
conducted at the Clarkdale-Jerome Elementary. The town is home
to the Yavapai College Verde Campus. For more information about
Clarkdale, visit the town website www.clarkdale.az.us.
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