Tuzigoot National Monument, Clarkdale AZ #Photo

25 Tuzigoot Rd, Clarkdale, AZ 86324

Ancient hilltop pueblo with a nearby visitor center featuring artifacts of the Sinaguan Indians.

Tuzigoot National Monument preserves a 2- to 3-story pueblo ruin on the summit of a limestone and sandstone ridge just east of Clarkdale, Arizona, 120 feet above the Verde River floodplain.

Tuzigoot National Monument Map:  http://ow.ly/UVzuu

Tuzigoot National Monument (Yavapai: ʼHaktlakva, Western Apache: Tú Digiz) preserves a 2- to 3-story pueblo ruin on the summit of a limestone and sandstone ridge just east of Clarkdale, Arizona, 120 feet above the Verde River floodplain. The Tuzigoot Site is an elongated complex of stone masonry rooms that were built along the spine of a natural outcrop in the Verde Valley. The central rooms stand higher than the others and they appear to have served public functions. The pueblo has 110 rooms. The National Park Service currently administers 58 acres, within an authorized boundary of 834 acres.

Tuzigoot is Apache for "crooked water", from nearby Pecks Lake, a cutoff meander of the Verde River. Historically, the pueblo was built by the Sinagua people between 1125 and 1400 CE. Tuzigoot is the largest and best-preserved of the many Sinagua pueblo ruins in the Verde Valley. The ruins at Tuzigoot incorporate very few doors. Instead they use trapdoor type openings in the roofs, and use ladders to enter each room.

At this site, remains of pithouses can be seen as well as petroglyphs, although the petroglyphs can only be viewed on certain days of the week.

The monument is on land once owned by United Verde/Phelps Dodge. The corporation sold the site to Yavapai County for $1, so that the excavation could be completed under the auspices of federal relief projects. The county in turn transferred the land to the federal government.

Tuzigoot was excavated from 1933 to 1935 by Louis Caywood and Edward Spicer of the University of Arizona, with funding from the federal Civil Works Administration and Works Project Administration. In 1935–1936, with additional federal funding, the ruins were prepared for public display, and a Pueblo Revival-style museum and visitor center was constructed.

Franklin D. Roosevelt designated Tuzigoot Ruins as a U.S. National Monument on July 25, 1939. The Tuzigoot National Monument Archeological District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

The ruins are surrounded by the tailings pond of the former United Verde copper mine at Jerome. The tailings have recently been stabilized and revegetated. (Source: http://ow.ly/UVAL0)

Ghost Town Jerome Arizona #Photo

Original miners cap in one of the bunk houses

Jerome may be the only ghost town in America that has its own ghost suburb. 

Sitting a mile north of Jerome, the Gold King Mine and Ghost Town is one of the most fascinating attractions in the region. Visiting you will find a rustic assortment of ramshackle buildings, the scar of an old mine shaft and a scattered array of rusted machinery that forever is in a delicate balance of ruin and redemption.

I hope you enjoy my presentation of the Gold Mine Ghost Town, and yes much to my amazement it snows in Arizona.

Country:	United States
State:	Arizona
County:	Yavapai
City	Jerome
Zip code	86326
Longitude:	-112.111
Latitude:	34.7522
Altitude - Elevation:	4948 feet

Wall of tools

Studebaker flatbed truck

Studebaker utility flatbed truck

Well rooted bank in the community

Shell fuel truck: The sleepers in the old days were in the rear of the fuel trailer with all of the pumping equipment.

History of Jerome, Arizona

The Early Years
jerome1927Jerome was built on Cleopatra Hill above a vast deposit of copper. Prehistoric Native Americans were the first miners, seeking colored stones. The Spanish followed, seeking gold but finding copper. Anglos staked the first claims in the area in 1876, and United Verde mining operations began in 1883, followed by the Little Daisy claim.

Jerome grew rapidly from tent city to prosperous company town as it followed the swing of the mine’s fortunes. The mines, the workers, and those who sought its wealth, formed Jerome’s colorful history. Americans, Mexicans, Croatians, Irish, Spaniards, Italians, and Chinese made the mining camp a cosmopolitan mix that added to its rich life and excitement.

Jerome was the talk of the Territory, a boom town of its time, the darling of promoters and investors. The mines were nourished and exploited by financiers who brought billions of dollars in copper, gold, and silver from its depths. Changing times in the Territory saw pack burros, mule drawn freight wagons, and horses replaced by steam engines, autos, and trucks.

Fires ravaged the clapboard town and landslides destroyed whole sections. Jerome was always rebuilt. At the mercy of the ups and downs of copper prices, labor unrest, depressions and wars, Jerome’s mines finally closed in 1953.

Jerome Today
After the mines closed in 1953 and “King Copper” left town, the population went from a peak of 15,000 in the 1920s to a low of 50 people. The Jerome Historical Society guarded the buildings against vandalism and the elements, the Douglas Mansion became a State Park in 1965, and Jerome became a National Historic Landmark in 1976. During the 60’s and 70’s, during the time of the counter culture, Jerome offered a haven for artists.

Soon newcomers and Jerome old timers were working together to bring Jerome back to life. Today, Jerome is very much alive with writers, artists, artisans, musicians, historians, and families. They form a peaceful, colorful, thriving community built on a rich foundation of history and lore.

 Other info on the property: Gold King Mine Ghost Town http://ow.ly/UV7i3