Sedona

Old Mining Town of Jerome

Old Mining Town of Jerome

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Welcome to the The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town of Jerome.

Tucked away in the black hills of Yavapai County and overlooking the Verde Valley is the old copper mining town of Jerome.

Built in the late 19th century, the town was known as "wickedest town in the West" and once boasted that every other building was a brothel.

This place is home to a sprawling collection of ramshackle buildings, rusted machinery and an old mine shaft.

Exploring the grounds I got a bit of a zombie apocolypse vibe.

There were plenty of curiosities to admire!

This is Don Robertson, the eccentric caretaker of these parts and one not shy to share his political opinions while casually dropping a litany of racial slurs.

After meeting Don in his workshop, with chainsaws dangling above my head as he ranted hateful rhetoric, exploring the grounds took on an uncomfortable vibe.

I didn't go in.

Tuzigoot National Monument

Just 10-miles away is the Tuzigoot National Monument, a preserved pueblo ruin built by the Sinagua people between 1125 and 1400 CE.

The site preserves 2 to 3-story pueblo ruins on the summit of a limestone and sandstone ridge.

The pueblo has 110 rooms of interconnected stone masonry built along the spine of a natural outcrop in the Verde Valley.

Central rooms stand higher than the others and served public functions.

Tuzigoot is the largest and best-preserved of the many Sinagua pueblo ruins in the Verde Valley.

The ruins at Tuzigoot incorporate very few doors. Instead they use trapdoor type openings in the roofs with ladders.