19 November 2007

FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA

FOUNDED 1876 –

Why did people come to Flagstaff years ago? They came because water was available for people, crops, and animals. They came to the San Francisco Peaks for religious reasons. They came for the lumber to build their villages. They came to enjoy the beauty of the Peaks.

One thousand years ago the Pueblo people built elaborate cities like Wupatki. The people worked in the fields, growing corn, squash, beans, and cotton. They probably loved to listen to the traders who came to their village from the south and brought wonderful seashells. The children played with clay figurines, miniature people, dogs, and houses.

Jerome was an industrious copper mining town in 1882, grew to the fifth largest city in Arizona with a population of 15,000 residents. The depression years slowly declined the town’s prosperity, so the town closed its mining in 1950.

14 November 2007

JEROME ARIZONA ­ GHOST TOWN
1882 ­ 1950

I remember my first trip to Jerome back in the early 50s, the roads were dirt back then, including Black Canyon Highway. Today, the old road can be seen from the new highway.
The town was super fun for a young adventurous kid then, there were old vacant dwellings to explore and play in. There was only a handful of people living there in the 50s.