Perched on top of Cleopatra Hill in the heart of Verde Valley, Arizona is the old mining town of Jerome. Once a bustling copper mining town, Jerome officially became a ghost town in the 1950’s and finally a National Historic District in 1967.
Jerome is a family favorite for me since the 1970’s. Every time I visit Jerome, there is something new to see! This little ghost town is a hidden gem bustling with activity. There are hotels, restaurants, wineries and tasting rooms, art galleries, museums, and old fashion saloons!
The views are stunning throughout the town! Customers line up at the various restaurants and wineries that showcase the view. One of the most popular spots is the delicious Haunted Hamburger restaurant.
This little town is full of eerie sights and locations haunted by former residents from the days as the “Wickedest Town in the West”. These spirits continue to offer ghost hunters more questions around the strange apparitions and unexplained moving objects. The town’s Community Center is also known as Spook Hall due to a resident ghost and her odd behavior. The former brothels on Main Street are still popular for sightings of phantoms. These spirits continue to offer ghost hunters more questions around the strange apparitions and unexplained moving objects.
Check out the haunted Jerome Grand Hotel, an abandoned hospital with a history of ghostly sightings, and fantastic Asylum restaurant! Perfect for special occasions, we celebrated my Grandmother’s 90th birthday at the Asylum (She loved it!).
I have wonderful childhood memories of ice cream and sweets from the Fudge shop.
There is a glass blowing studio, and a variety of museums throughout the town. We stopped into the recently updated Motor Museum to admire the vintage auto garage and eclectic mix of artist shops.
Most of the historic buildings have descriptive signs like the old Bartlett Hotel.
The former mining town has an interesting history of brothels, most famous is the House of Joy.
As you should expect from an historic old mining town on the side of a hill, roads and walk ways are steep and uneven.
Parking can be a bit tricky, many of the roads are one way and narrow. Drive up the hill on 89A past the town, there is a spectacular scenic view to stop for photo op and turn around back to Jerome. Worth the extra couple miles for the view! Even better at sunset!
At 5,000 ft elevation, bring a warm shirt for layering. It could be 70 degrees F (21 degrees Celsius) part of the day, then drop to 50 degrees F (10 degrees Celsius), and back again. During our visit a storm rolled in, light rain, then back to warm and sunny, but could just as likely snow!
Do not miss this quirky little town in Northern Arizona!