Editing Jerome, Arizona (section)

==Early 20th century==
Jerome, which was legally separate from United Verde and supported many independent businesses, did not meet the definition of a [[company town]]{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=294}} even though it depended for decades largely on a single company. In 1914, a separate company, the United Verde Extension Mining Company (UVX), led by [[James S. Douglas, Jr.]] (nicknamed Rawhide Jimmy), discovered a second ore body near Jerome that produced a [[:wikt:bonanza|bonanza]].{{sfn|Clements|2003|pp=47–49}} The UVX Mine, also known as the ''Little Daisy Mine'',{{sfn|Steuber|2008|p=123}} became spectacularly profitable: during 1916 alone, it produced $10{{spaces}}million worth of copper, silver and gold, of which $7.4{{spaces}}million was profit.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Arizona Bureau of Mines|author2=U.S. Geological Survey|title=Mineral and Water Resources of Arizona: Bulletin 180, Part 2: Mineral Fuels and Associated Resources|url=http://repository.azgs.az.gov/sites/default/files/dlio/files/nid1005/bulletin-180_part2.pdf|year=1969|publisher=Arizona Geological Survey|pages=127–128|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410135940/http://repository.azgs.az.gov/sites/default/files/dlio/files/nid1005/bulletin-180_part2.pdf|archive-date=April 10, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> This mine eventually produced more than $125{{spaces}}million worth of ore and paid more than $50{{spaces}}million in dividends.{{sfn|Clements|2003|pp=47–49}} Total production amounted to four million tons, much less than the United Verde total but from uncommonly rich ore averaging more than 10{{spaces}}percent copper and in places rising to 45{{spaces}}percent.{{sfn|Abbott|Cook|2007|pp=233–247}}

[[File:United Verde Smelter (Jerome, Arizona).png|thumb|left|upright 1.6|Panorama of the United Verde Smelter as it appeared around 1909, before the mine became an open-pit operation|alt=Panorama of the United Verde Smelter as it appeared in about 1909, replete with smoking smokestacks, many small buildings, and a curved section of railroad track]]
Starting in 1914, [[World War&nbsp;I]] greatly increased demand for copper, and by 1916 the number of companies involved in mining near Jerome reached 22.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=48}} These companies employed about 3,000 miners in the district.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=48}} Meanwhile, United Verde was building a large smelter complex and company town, Clarkdale, and a [[standard gauge]] railway, the Verde Tunnel and Smelter Railroad, to haul ore from its mine to the new smelter.{{sfn|Wahmann|1999|p=15}} After the new railway opened in 1915, the company dismantled the Jerome smelter and converted the mine to an open-pit operation by 1919.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=49}}{{efn|The decision to turn the United Verde Mine into an open-pit operation led to abandonment of the narrow-gauge United Verde & Pacific Railway between Jerome and Jerome Junction.{{sfn|Wahmann|1999|p=15}} Instead, the {{convert|11|mi|km|adj=on}} Verde Tunnel & Smelter Railroad (VT&S) and a companion electric line, the Hopewell Haulage Railroad, transported ore to Clark's new smelter from two different levels of the mine. The electric train, the lower of the two, ran through the {{convert|7200|ft|m|adj=on}} Hopewell Tunnel to a station called Hopewell, where ore was transferred to the VT&S.{{sfn|Wahmann|1999|pp=27, 29, 41}} In 1922, UVX owner Douglas built his own [[shortline railroad]], the {{convert|8|mi|km|adj=on}} Arizona-Extension Railway. It began at the east entrance to the {{convert|2.5|mi|km|adj=on}} Josephine Tunnel, through which electric trains transported ore from the UVX Mine for transfer to the shortline and thence to the UVX smelter at Clemenceau.{{sfn|Wahmann|1999|p=61}}}} The switch from underground to open-pit mining stemmed from a series of fires, some burning for decades, in the mine's high-sulfur ores. Removing the [[overburden]] and pouring a mixture of water, waste ore, and sand into rock fissures helped control the fires.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Work Mine in Spite of Old Fire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCgDAAAAMBAJ|date=January 1931|journal=Popular Science|volume=118|number=1|pages=26, 142|issn=0161-7370|access-date=October 17, 2012|via=Google Books|last1=Corporation|first1=Bonnier}}</ref> By 1918, UVX also had its own smelter in its own company town near Cottonwood; the company town was named Clemenceau in 1920.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=49}} In 1929, a company named Verde Central opened what at first appeared to be another "great mine"{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=44}} about a mile southwest of Jerome.<ref>{{cite web|title=Verde Central Mine|publisher=United States Geological Survey|url=https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/show-mrds.php?dep_id=10027268|access-date=May 29, 2017}}</ref>

The labor situation in Jerome was complicated. Three separate labor unions—the [[Western Federation of Miners|International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers]] (MMSW), the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] or IWW, and the Liga Protectora Latina, which represented about 500 Mexican miners—had members in Jerome. In 1917, two miners' [[strike action|strikes]] involving the IWW, which had been organizing strikes elsewhere in Arizona and other states, took place in Jerome. Seen as a threat by business interests as well as other labor unions, the Wobblies, as they were called, were subject nationally to sometimes violent harassment. The MMSW, which in May called a strike against United Verde, regarded the rival IWW with animosity and would not recognize it as legitimate. In response, the IWW members threatened to break the strike. Under pressure, the MMSW voted 467 to 431 to settle for less than they wanted.<ref name="Lindquist">{{cite journal | last =Lindquist | first =John H. |date=Autumn 1969 | title =The Jerome Deportation of 1917 | journal =Arizona and the West | volume =11 | issue =3 | pages =233–246 | publisher =Journal of the Southwest | issn=0004-1408|jstor=40167537}}</ref>

In July, the IWW called for a strike against all the mines in the district. In this case, the MMSW voted 470 to 194 ''against'' striking. Three days later, about 250 armed [[vigilante]]s rounded up at least 60 suspected IWW members, loaded them onto a railroad [[Stock car (rail)|cattle car]], and shipped them out of town in what has been called the Jerome Deportation. Nine IWW members, thought by the Prescott sheriff's department to be leaders, were arrested and jailed temporarily in Prescott though never charged with a crime; others were taken to [[Needles, California]], then to [[Kingman, Arizona]], where they were released after promising to desist from "further agitation".<ref name="Lindquist"/>

===After 1920===
[[File:High street Jerome, Arizona.jpg|thumb|Corner of Main Street and Jerome Avenue in Jerome. Connor Hotel, left. Mine Museum, right.|alt=Old masonry buildings of one, two, and three stories near an intersection with car and pedestrian traffic.]]
Following a brief post-war downturn, boom times returned to Jerome in the 1920s. Copper prices rose to 24 cents a pound in 1929,{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=51}} and United Verde and UVX operated at near capacity.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=53}} Wages rose, consumers spent, and the town's businesses—including five automobile dealerships—prospered.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=45}} United Verde, seeking stable labor relations, added disability and life insurance benefits for its workers and built a baseball field, tennis courts, swimming pools, and a public park in Jerome. Both companies donated to the Jerome Public Library and helped finance projects for the town's schools, churches, and hospitals.{{sfn|Clements|2003|pp=54–55}}

In 1930, after the start of the [[Great Depression]], the price of copper fell to 14{{spaces}}cents a pound.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=84}} In response, United Verde began reducing its work force; UVX operated at a loss, and the third big mine, Verde Central, closed completely.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=85}} The price of copper fell further in 1932 to 5{{spaces}}cents a pound, leading to layoffs, temporary shutdowns, and wage reductions in the Verde District.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=88}} In 1935, the Clark family sold United Verde to [[Phelps Dodge]],{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=90}} and in 1938 UVX went out of business.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=92}}

[[File:Douglas Mansion.jpg|thumb|left|Douglas Mansion at the [[Jerome State Historic Park]]|alt=A large white two-story adobe structure with brown trim is fronted by a lawn with stone and metal exhibits, a flagpole, and walkways.]]

Meanwhile, a subsidence problem that had irreparably damaged at least 10 downtown buildings by 1928 worsened through the 1930s. Dozens of buildings, including the post office and jail, were lost as the earth beneath them sank away.{{efn|Jerome's housing stock and other buildings met a wide variety of fates over the years. Some burned or collapsed. Some were moved intact or in pieces to places as far away as [[Flagstaff, Arizona|Flagstaff]]. After 1953, through the efforts of the Jerome Historical Society and others, some like the Boyd Hotel, the Powder Box Church, and the Fourth Hospital (now the [[Jerome Grand Hotel|Grand Hotel]] and Asylum Restaurant) were restored. Not every standing building has been completely restored, and ruins are still visible in "Mexican Town", downhill from the main business district.{{sfn|Steuber|2008|pp=103–122}}}} Contributing causes were geologic [[Fault (geology)|faulting]] in the area, blast vibrations from the mines, and erosion that may have been exacerbated by vegetation-killing smelter smoke.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=197}}{{efn|Pine, oak, and [[manzanita]] trees covered Jerome until the late 19th century but were cut down for mine timbers and other lumber.{{sfn|Steuber|2008|p=81}} In 1964, Cleopatra Hill was seeded with [[ailanthus]] trees to limit severe erosion from the denuded slopes.{{sfn|Steuber|2008|p=115}}}}

Mining continued at a reduced level in the Verde District until 1953, when Phelps Dodge shut down the United Verde Mine and related operations. Jerome's population subsequently fell below 100.{{sfn|Steuber|2008|p=10}} To prevent the town from disappearing completely, its remaining residents turned to tourism and retail sales. They organized the Jerome Historical Society in 1953 and opened a museum and gift shop.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=251}}

To encourage tourism, the town's leaders sought [[National Historic Landmark]] status for Jerome; it was granted by the federal government in 1967.{{sfn|Steuber|2008|p=8}} In 1962, James Douglas's heirs donated the Douglas mansion, above the UVX mine site, to the State of Arizona, which used it to create [[Jerome State Historic Park]].{{sfn|Steuber|2008|p=123}} By sponsoring music festivals, historic-homes tours, celebrations, and races, the community attracted visitors and new businesses, which in the 21st century include art galleries, craft stores, wineries, coffeehouses, and restaurants.{{sfn|Clements|2003|p=251}}