Jerome

Jerome was built on Cleopatra Hill above one of the richest copper deposits in Arizona, on ground so steep that buildings sit on terraces cut into a thirty-degree slope. Underground blasting and the removal of ore destabilised the hill, and buildings slid: the old jail moved about sixty metres downhill from where it was built and now sits across the road from its original site, tilted. In the 1920s the town had more than ten thousand people; when Phelps Dodge closed the mine in 1953 it fell below a hundred, and the remaining residents turned to tourism, founding the Jerome Historical Society that year. Artists arrived in the 1960s and 70s. Douglas Mansion is now a state park with mining exhibits.

The main sights

• A town on a thirty-degree slope - terraced into the hillside.
• The sliding jail - about sixty metres from where it was built.
• A population that fell from over 10,000 to under 100 - after the 1953 closure.
• Douglas Mansion state park - mining exhibits above the town.

When to go

March to November. Half a day.

Good to know

Parking is very limited and streets are narrow and steep. Ghost tourism dominates the marketing. The road up from either side is a series of switchbacks. Weekends are crowded from Sedona.

Nearby

Sedona is north-east; Prescott is south-west over the pass.

Key facts