“Shortly after 2 o’clock Sunday afternoon, Jerome was shaken by a heavy explosion December 20, 1925. Windows were blown out, plaster was jarred loose, and doors were blown open or off their hinges.”
The Verde Tunnel & and Smelter Railroad from Clarkdale to Jerome ran from 1919 until 1953.
“William B. Hellings & Co. called a meeting at Phoenix” during September of 1873 “for the purpose of raising funds to open up a new road through Black Canyon to Prescott and the Verde Valley.
"There is no doubt that a great abundance of rich mineral deposits were taken from the mines of Arizona by a past civilization.”
During 1929, “the housing situation in Jerome was so acute that the United Verde Copper Company (UVCC) found it necessary to” provide houses for its employees.
The first permanent structures in the area that would become Jerome in 1883 were at the camps of prospectors and miners where log cabins were constructed. Not only did the cabins provide shelter, they provided a place to store mining tools and equipment.
The prosperity of the “Roaring Twenties” was followed by events that resulted in the stock market crash Oct. 29, 1929, followed by the “Great Depression” from 1929 to 1939. Due to the low demand and dropping price of copper, the United Verde Copper Company (UVCC) layoff included 825 mine and smelter workers on June 26, 1930. However, the production of copper continued.
The story about a gold mine in the Sycamore Canyon area is very old. The rich vein had been discovered by Apaches who showed it to some Spaniards who dug a tunnel and extracted rose quartz containing gold.
Wagon trains brought many settlers to the Verde Valley during 1875. Their first Sunday meeting was held in the shade of the largest cottonwood tree near the home of Parson James Clawson Bristow on Oct. 3, 1875.
Construction of the Clemenceau School by the United Verde Extension Mining Company (UVX) began in 1923. The modern design and ideas were due to the efforts and involvement of UVX General Manager George Kingdon. The school became a favorite project for several company employees and many others did their bit.
The United Verde Copper Company (UVCC) set the “date for banking the fire of its old smelter, and after Sept. 1, this historical plant will pass into memory. The old gives way to the new, and henceforth Clarkdale will be the reduction center of the big mines.”
The Sutler Store, located a short distance outside the military post of Camp Verde, was a civilian enterprise on the large Camp Verde Military Reservation.
The mining and smelting companies sold land on a conditional basis with restrictions and easements attached. Violations (complaints, lawsuits, etc.) meant that the property would revert to the company. In residential subdivisions, use of the property for business purposes was often prohibited. By the 1920s sometimes there was a minimum cost or size of the dwelling and outhouses were not permitted.
Preston Burford, a resident of Cedar County, Missouri, read a letter written by Charley Buster describing the country and “giving a glowing account of” the Salt River Valley in Arizona Territory.
After most of the Jerome buildings had burned during 1898, the residents petitioned the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors for incorporation in the hope of obtaining better fire and police protection and “permanent prosperity.”
Simply stated, when ore from the mines was processed by the mill, concentrator, and smelter, the valuable metallic product containing gold, silver, copper, etc., called “bullion” or “matte,” was loaded on railroad cars and shipped away to processed.
George W. Hull swore not to stop wheeling and dealing until he had acquired a million dollars. He was a shrewd businessman who recognized a bargain. He bought, sold, and traded at his Jerome lumberyard, stores, and mines.
The United Verde Extension Mining Company (UVX) officials had admitted “that the mine must have a smelter of its own” by April 21, 1916.
Cutting trees had damaged the beauty of the Verde Valley, was a real threat to wildlife along the streams, ruined recreational areas along the river, and resulted in increased flood damage and erosion.
In connection with a contract for mail and passenger transportation between the Camp Verde Post Office (established March 14, 1873,) and the Jerome Post Office (established Sept. 10, 1883,) there were three new Verde Valley post offices established on July 9, 1885.
On the admission of a new state into the Union, 1 star shall be added to the flag on the 4th of July after such admission. In 1912 the 2 new stars represented Arizona and New Mexico.
Phelps Dodge Corporation officials announced that their “United Verde Hospital at Jerome would be closed July 1, 1950.
“Simply by default Cottonwood became the most important town in the Upper Verde Valley. It intends to hold and strengthen that position by enterprise. ... The combination of magnificent scenery, extensive recreational opportunities, historical landmarks, and a delightful climate are fundamental factors in the hopeful outlook.”
During the first weeks of June, the Arizona Power Company tested its huge new plant, which will generate 10,000 horsepower and transmit electricity over an immense area. The United Verde Copper Company will be the first to receive electricity.
“When the United Verde Copper Company decided to build its new smelting plant the company was confronted with the problem of providing dwellings for its employees, and there were no railroad connections” from the Jerome mines to the new site.
Blandon Picture House, the first art gallery built on Grasshopper Flats (now, West Sedona) opened to the public on May 30, 1952.
The new hospital built during 1899 by the United Verde Copper Company was the most complete of its kind in the Southwest.
Fred Ullman, formerly of Prescott, and a member of the city council of Jerome circulated a petition asking that “women be excluded from saloons” which met with general approval. There were only 3 saloons presenting vaudeville features in which women took leading parts. (Wkly Az Journal-Miner; Prescott; May 3, 1905.)
The Mariani Building, located at 826 N. Main Street, is the only structure in the Cottonwood Commercial Historic District constructed of rusticated cast concrete block. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Sept. 19, 1986.
“Like a monument reaching to the heavens, the massive stack of the neTw Clarkdale smelter of the United Verde Copper Company was completed on Wednesday, May 25, 1914. It is ready to carry away the fumes of the furnaces that are being constructed.” The new smelter began “warming up” and began smelting ore during May of 1915.
According to the old-timers, rapid growth converting the rural village into a prosperous town began during 1915.
For the year ending Dec. 31, 1904, the “Equator” smelter, west of Cottonwood, produced about 1,150,000 pounds of refined copper
Residents were encouraged to buy and use local and Arizona products to benefit every citizen and promote greater industrial and agricultural development of the state.
After negotiating in New York City to lease with an option to purchase the United Verde Copper Company, William A. Clark and his associates went to inspect the Jerome mines and smelter.
Arizona became one of the foremost states in providing safeguards against diseases the War Department considered important.
As part of Arizona’s celebration of the passage of the 19th Amendment, a statue of Frances Willard Munds, president of the Arizona Equal Suffrage Association in Arizona from 1909 until 1912, will be placed on the capitol mall during August, the National Women’s Suffrage Month.
The annual Exodus Day Commemoration is scheduled in Camp Verde Saturday, Feb. 25, hosted by the Yavapai-Apache Nation.
Another example of progress and devotion to Verde Valley history is being demonstrated by a group of Camp Verde residents, known as the Camp Verde Improvement Association, who are busy promoting a museum.
The first golf course in Arizona to have natural water hazards also had no grass when it opened.
A special re-enactment to honor the horseback mail carriers began at Camp Verde on Saturday, Jan. 27, and ended at Phoenix.
Prior to the “1967 Snowstorms” old-timers remembered the 1916 storms. Newspaper reports tell the story.
This new railway was constructed from Cedar Glade (named Drake in 1920) on the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix (SFP&P) Railway to what would become Clarkdale, a distance of about 38.5 miles during 1911 and 1912 with a crew of up to 1,000 men.
“The United Verde Extension Mining Company’s [UVX] smelter at Clemenceau was closed down permanently when Thursday’s shift went off duty, because the company’s mines at Jerome are not producing sufficient ore to justify continuance of smelter operations, it was announced today over long-distance telephone by George Kingdon, of Jerome, general manager.”
The occasion of imbedding the copper-gold-silver spike securely proved to be a very pleasant and interesting event.
“On Saturday, [December 25,] the ‘Journal-Miner’ [in Prescott] received a special telegram from Jerome, giving an account of a disastrous conflagration which occurred there on Friday night."
The prohibition-era architectural styles of “Old Town” were modified with the addition of decorative western and old Southwest architectural elements considered to be appealing by tourists to attract shoppers to the district.
“The magic of mining has been well exemplified in the Jerome district during the last 2 years.”
It was the custom of the Navy to name its destroyers for distinguished commanders and admirals. The naming of a destroyer for Cpl. John Henry Pruitt marked the first time such an honor had been accorded to an enlisted man.
Mount Mingus in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee on the border of North Carolina, with a summit of 5,802 feet, was named for the Mingus family who arrived there in the late 1700’s. Mingus Mountain in the Prescott National Forest, with a summit of 7,818 feet, was named for the Mingus (Minges, Menges) men who had become residents before 1880. Who were they?
The 1917 Pioneer Hotel was rebuilt during 1929. Paint has recently been removed from the small panes of glass across the front and the historic appearance of the building has been restored except for the drive-through vehicle entrance.