The Jerome Historic District is a

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

encompassing the former mining community of Jerome, Arizona. The town was founded as a mining camp associated with

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

deposits that were mined from the late 19th century until 1953. The district was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1966Charles W. Snell (May 3, 1966) , National Park Service (text and drawings) and and was included into the then-new

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Historic district

Jerome is a town in the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...

of Yavapai County, Arizona. It was founded in the late 19th century on Cleopatra Hill overlooking the

Verde Valley The Verde Valley ( yuf-x-yav, Matkʼamvaha; es, Valle Verde) is a valley in central Arizona in the United States. The Verde River runs through it. The Verde River is one of Arizona's last free-flowing river systems. It provides crucial habitat ...

to take advantage of copper deposits discovered in the 1870s whose extraction was made profitable by the arrival of a railroad spur nearby. The community reached its peak in the early 20th-century, and declined as its principal ore lodes were exhausted after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; the mines were closed for good in 1953. The historic district encompasses most of the built area within the town's municipal limits, as well as mining-related resources outside those limits, and the Douglas Mansion, the centerpiece of

Jerome State Historic Park Jerome State Historic Park is a state park of Arizona, US, featuring the Douglas Mansion, built in 1916 by a family of influential mining entrepreneurs in Jerome, Arizona, a mining region in the northeast of the Black Hills, east Yavapai County. ...

. The community retains much of the look and feel of an early 20th-century mining town, with buildings perched along the winding roads of the steeply sloped mountainside. In addition to houses, commercial and civic buildings survive, as does a late 19th-century copper smelter. File:Jerome, Arizona 02.jpg, View of Jerome Historic District, looking west up Main Street towards the mine, 2006. File:Connor hotel, 1899.jpg, The Connor hotel in 1899. File:High street Jerome, Arizona.jpg, Main Street and Jerome Avenue: the Connor Hotel (left side corner) and the Liberty Theater File:Jerome Historic Ditrict 224.JPG, Mining car

Jerome Historical Society

The Jerome Historical Society was founded in 1953 and is located at 407 Clark Street, within the district. In 1956 the society completed negotiations with Phelps Dodge assuring that no more buildings would be torn down in the main part of Jerome. The aim of the society is to "protect, preserve and present the unique physical and natural history of Jerome…for the benefit of residents and current and future generations.” The society maintains a variety of buildings, museums and special projects in and around Jerome.

Historic properties

Numerous properties within the district are historical, though others are not. Structures identified as historical by the Jerome Historical Society Plaque Project have a mounted plaque, placed by the society.Jerome Historical Society – Jerome, AZ – Historical Society Headquarters on Waymarking.com
/ref>Jerome and State=Arizona
/ref> The historic properties include:

References

External links

{{authority control Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona Mining in Arizona National Register of Historic Places in Yavapai County, Arizona National Historic Landmarks in Arizona History of Yavapai County, Arizona Artist colonies Mining communities in Arizona

Historic district

Jerome Historical Society

Historic properties

See also

References

Further reading

External links