Day Trip To Jerome

Saturday

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We had a very pleasant day out, going up country, past Cottonwood,  to Jerome. Jerome was a big mining town from 1870 onwards. It reminded us very much of a small version of Bizbee, in Southern Arizona, which we visited in 2013. Arizona has lots of copper, copper is not conducive to small mining operations as the copper is usually extracted from a variety of ores, so usually the copper mines are run by large companies, which was the case in Jerome, partly open caste and partly underground the town was split between two large mining operations, Little Betsie and the Verde Mine. By the time they were worked out the shafts went down more than 4,500ft below ground, almost down to sea level. The town hangs on the mountainside, with steep roads winding  back and forth across the mountain and houses and shops being built onto any flat space available. At it’s height 15000 people lived and worked here. By the turn of the century there was lots of money, so the town had many sophisticated services, such as movie theaters, train service, buses, automobiles and of course lots of saloons and bordellos.
Later, with lack of space, miners moved to Cottonwood, where there was more room. However when the mines gave out Jerome emptied, almost overnight, leaving a ghost town of perhaps 50 people. Just like Bizbee, it stayed that way until the late 1960’s, when Hippies, moving out of California, moved in and squatted. This has produced a town which is a strange combination of mining and art, quite interesting to walk around.
While we were there we bought coffee/tea in the Mile High Grill and bought a couple of very nice looking mugs. We were also pressed to try the Cream Filled Cinnamon Coated Curros (pro. Churros), which were very passé, about 6 inches long, a thick pancake mix which has been extruded from a  star shaped nozzle, filled with cream and deep fried,  sort of a cross between a pancake, a donut and a stick. Interesting to look at, but not brilliant to eat, a waste of my precious calories, still you have to try these things.
After wandering round the town we moved on to the Douglas Mansion, sounds grand, but it was not very, however it was just by the Little Betsie Mine and belonged to the mine owner. Here we were able to get at good understanding of the story of the town. There was also a great model showing the extent of the underground workings, where the copper was found, how the two mines related to each other and also the fault line which exposed the copper ore in the first place. Outside we also saw the little ore cars which looked like they were straight out of Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.
Overall we had a very enjoyable day.
Tomorrow we move on.