April 9 Jerome, AZ and Tuzigoot National Monument

Before heading to Sedona, we took a quick trip up the mountain to Jerome and Tuzigoot National Monument. Both are located just outside of Cottonwood.

Jerome (http://www.azjerome.com/) is located on Cleopatra Hill between Flagstaff & Prescott. Jerome was a copper mining town, founded in 1876 it grew from tents & shanties to a large, active mining community. Surviving four large fires, the "City of Jerome" was incorporated in 1889. The copper mine closed in 1953 and in 1967 the town was designated as a National Historic District. Today the town in home to about 450 people and is a thriving tourist & artist community.

Most of the buildings you see today were built after the fires of 1894 and 1899; many have been restored and many more are planned for renovation.

View from Jerome, AZ

Street scene in Jerome

Sullivan Apartments, Jerome, AZ

Hotel Connor, Jerome, AZ

Grand Hotel, Jerome, AZ

Tuzigoot National Monument is located between Cottonwood & Jerome. About 1000 AD a tribe of southern tribe Sinagua (sin-AH-wah) Indians built their homes on a ridge in the Verde Valley. They left suddenly in the early 1400's for still unknown reasons. Tuzigoot grew slowly over 4oo years - the ruins you see now at Tuzigoot were probably built in the late 1300s during the final expansion of Tuzigoot. During its heyday, Tuzigoot probalby had about 225 people living there. Few adults lived beyond the age of 40 and when they passed, they were buried in the hillsides with few personal possessions.

Most of the rooms sheltered single families and used for sleeping & eating; a few rooms were used for food storage and prep, but most cooking was done on outside firepits.

Tuzigoot is a fantastic place to visit. While most of it is reconstructed, it is still spectacular to view the ruins, imagine how the people of that time lived and the views from the ridge are spectacular.