Jerome, AZ

Jerome is one of the several amazing places north of Phoenix but still under a 4 hour drive. It used to be a mining town and was called at some point the "Wickedest town in the West" and home to some 10,000 people looking for the new life.


We entered Jerome just as the stormclouds gathered overhead but for most part things were dry. We had heard a little something about the Gold King Mine, so decided to head there for our "Ghost town" experience. The owners of the area have done a magnificent job of recreating a late 19th century, early 20th appeal. You can see a ton of stuff for $4 including a dentist's office, a class room and some fantastic cars and motorycles dating back over 60 years, all covered in dust for the right effect (also saves cleaning chores). They also had a saw mill there, fully functional and an adorable donkey. The folks also had a nice sense of humor with a few rather funny boards and posters around the place.




Since Jerome was merely a stop over for our real visit to Verde Canyon, we had to leave around 3pm and could not visit the mining museum. We drove out on the winding dirt roads that make their way past what must've once been bustling with men and women talking gold and copper, hard work for supposedly easy money. The glory and agony of the saga of gold is one of the more important stories in the history of the white man's occupation of the West.


Click here for more pictures from our visit to Jerome!