Before heading to the downtown area, we went to Jerome State Historic Park on the outskirts of the town. It reveals the story of the city of Jerome while preserving the historic Douglas Mansion. This former home is now a museum devoted to the history of the Jerome area and the Douglas family. It offers a beautiful panoramic view of the Verde Valley. The 8,700 sq. ft. mansion has been a landmark in Jerome since 1916 when James S. Douglas built it on the hill just above his Little Daisy Mine for $150,000 He designed the house as a hotel for mining officials and investors as well as for his own family. It featured a wine cellar, billiard room, marble shower, steam heat, and, much ahead of its time, a central vacuum system. Douglas was most proud of the fact that the house was constructed of adobe bricks that were made on the site. It is thought to be the largest adobe structure in the country. The house was put up for sale in the 1960's for a price of $10,000, but when it didn't sell, the Douglas family donated the building to Arizona State Parks in 1962.
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| This is the Douglas Mansion. Quite a setting and a large home for that time. |
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| A display of some of the medical "stuff" from the town hospital! |
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| Hard to imagine they were making something like our "soda" way back then! |
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| You certainly had to mine a lot of ore to get such a little amount of gold! |
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| They had many, many artifacts at this museum. |
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| Mr. Douglas built this as a "dormitory" for the mine workers! Wow, pretty fancy! Now is is a private home. Another wow!! |
Now a little history on Jerome! Jerome's history began in 1876 when 3 prospectors staked claims on rich copper deposits. They sold out to a group which formed the United Verde Copper Company in 1883. The resultant mining camp of board and canvas shacks was named in honor of Eugene Jerome, the venture's principal backer. Hopes for the enterprise ran high, but the costs of operating, especially for transportation, outstripped profits, and the company fold in less than 2 years. It took the vision and financial resources of William A. Clark, to bring in a narrow gauge railroad and reduce freight costs. By the early 20th century, the United Verde was the largest producing copper mine in the Arizona Territory. In 1912, James S. Douglas purchased and began development of the Little Daisy Mine. By 1916, Jerome had two bonanza mines. Copper production peaked in 1929, but the Depression and low grade ore deposits reversed the fortunes of the town. The Little Daisy shut down in 1938. Phelps Dodge took over the United Verde in 1935, but loss of profits brought the operation and Jerome's mining days to an end in 1953. Wow, that's a lot to take in!!!!!
After we left the Park, we walked through Jerome checking out the shops and watching a glass blower do his thing! Interesting! Then we had a positively delicious lunch on the patio of Grapes. Ken and I had eaten there in 2010 when we stopped in Jerome with Ken's cousin Dave and his wife Jean, but just for dinner. The food was a good as we remembered.
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| The old high school is now a fancy hotel! |
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| Getting ready to order lunch at The Grape! |
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| Jerome sits high on top of the mountain and has many old buildings! |
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| This was the location of the Bartlett Hotel. Now you throw coins into the area! |
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| A rather eccentric shop! |
We drove through Old Cottonwood on our way back to the CG and even though we didn't stop, I think it would be worthy of a visit. It had many shops and eateries and was well maintained. Maybe next time!!!!
We were all rather tired when we returned to the CG at 5. Ken and I took a nap, I worked on the blog, and went to Chuck and Melissa's to play games. Men won 2 and we won 1. We also watched The Voice while we played. At this CG there is no cable and being down in the valley, we have no TV. Chuck and Melissa have a "dish", so we can watch shows that they taped when we are there. We were back to Waldo at 10:30 and went right to bed.
Can't believe tomorrow is our last day in Sedona. The 4 of us agree that this is really a very special place!
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| This is the 1st time we saw a Yucca cacti in full bloom I thought the flowers were burgundy, but discovered they are yellow when totally blooming. |
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| They are so pretty! |
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| Way off in the distance toward Sedona, there was snow on the\ top of the mountain. So beautiful! |
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| If you look closely, you can see the windy road below us that we will get to very shortly! |
That snow covered mtn. in the distance is the AZ high point. Humphreys Peak - it's beautiful on top!
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