Jerome and the Copper Town Ball

Just found out that Jerome, AZ is having its first annual Copper Town Ball on Saturday, September 13, 2008. That reminded me that we haven't visited Jerome, so let's take a virtual trip first. Three websites immediately come to mind:

• The Jerome Historical Society which gives a bit of history and information about the Mine Museum and the Society's plans to protect Jerome's historical heritage.
• Jerome Chamber of Commerce offers a really good overview of what's available to Jerome visitors. They've added a section of photos from the 2008 Home Tour--a good indication of what you might see on the 2009 tour.
• AZJerome.com is a commercial site and actually is the most informative website I've found.

According to AZJerome.com, today Jerome is a thriving on tourist and artist community and has a population of about 450, but it was once a booming mining town of 15,000, the fourth largest city in the Arizona territory.

Jerome is called "America's Most Vertical City" and "Largest Ghost Town in America." Sounds like a bit of information that might call for some more investigation. This town is interesting part of Arizona history that through ingenuity and hard work has managed to live on.