Switch-Backs: Much of Jerome, Ariz., consists of a series of switch-back turns as the main street through town winds its way up and down the steep hillside. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com 

By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos

Jerome is a town in central Arizona that has a storied past, which has led to its eclectic and artistic population today.

Jerome sits on the steep slope of Cleopatra Hill at an elevation of 5,200 feet. It was known as “the wickedest town in the west” during the copper mining era. Jerome is built on top of what was Arizona’s largest copper mine and the people living there reflected the rugged lifestyle and antics of that day.

Today Jerome is known as Arizona’s “mile high city” as well as the “largest ghost town in America”. Following the mining days, the population dipped to less than 100 but it has grown to almost 500 residents today. The former mining town is primarily a tourist destination today.

Jerome is a destination that we want to return to because it offers much more than we were able to see on our first visit about two years ago. There is a mining museum and the Jerome Historic State Park and Douglas Mansion but those will wait until a later trip following the COVID restrictions.

Jerome and Cleopatra Hill: Jerome, Arizona sits on the side of Cleopatra Hill in central Arizona overlooking the Verde Valley.  The hillside is steep, and streets are narrow making for an interesting and beautiful location.

Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn were traveling around the country prior to the pandemic and he has been sharing his photographs, which appear in the ‘Posts from the Road’ series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.