Hello Friends and Family,
Link to this year's index by clicking here.
Jerome, Arizona - The Town |
As I mentioned last week, the mining town of Jerome is built on a hillside — a steep hillside. So steep, in fact, that the town's jail (and the complete block where the jail formerly sat) actually slid down the hillside following a 1930's blast. It has come to be known as the "Sliding Jail". It is amazing that the structure is relatively intact — although I think it would not have been pleasant to be in the jail at the time. |
Many of the old structures have been put to new uses. Here the old Central Hotel provides a funky clothing shop downstairs. I'm not sure what is upstairs but my guess is apartments. If you look closely on the right end of the lower porch you'll see . . . |
. . . a mannequin wearing clothing that is for sale. Peace! Of course how can you take her seriously with a beanie cap complete with propeller? |
This old building is "The House of Joy". Hmmm, I usually think of a place with such a name as a brothel. Well, perhaps it was at one time. And sitting on their lower porch, left-hand side . . . |
. . . was a glamorous pig complete with lipstick. This may be an old town far from the big city but they seem to be up to date with presidential politics. |
Jerome really is a town populated with artists. I ran into a painter as I explored the town. She was actually minding the gallery for the owner — but instead of sitting inside (it was a beautiful day) and reading or being bored, she was outside capturing the scene down the street. I chatted with her briefly and she mentioned a fabulous (as she described it) art show up in Sedona in October. Perhaps I will have to take a trip to Sedona then. |
And do you remember me mentioning switchbacks? Take a look at this steep street and you'll understand why. Do you suppose they have to close this street when it snows in the winter? (Yes, it does snow in Jerome in the wintertime.) |
Their web site does warn you that rooms 1-4 are above the bar and can be noisy, especially on weekends. For those who are interested you can see a photo of the hotel from 1899 plus read more about its history by clicking here. |
There are residences in town as well. This one seemed particularly attractive to me. |
Yet on the other hand, there were some that were a bit decrepit. It was hard to tell if anyone still lives here — although my guess is that someone does simply because the porch was not full of trash and dirt. Not my choice of residence. |
And this one was really questionable. It needs paint and the upstairs window was left open. Hard to tell. |
But the Holy Family Catholic Church, built in 1894, is still in use — I had to wait on people entering and exiting until I could take my photo. This was "The Miners Church" and escaped the fires that destroyed much of the town over the years. |
In their parking lot sat this old Ford pickup with flat tire and camper shell. |
Well time to leave. But first a reminder of the rains that we have experienced this year all over Arizona. I believe these are Black Eyed Susans and there were profuse all along the roads I traveled to Jerome and back. I wish I could have found places to pull off the road and capture more of them — but I guess when they built these country back roads, they did not take photographers into account. |
Just for variety, I returned home via the road to Prescott and was richly rewarded with this incredible view (and a roadside pull-off area). It was a wonderful day full of photographic opportunities. |
Life is good.
Aloha,
B. David