My husband and I had been looking forward to taking a road trip to Arizona to see friends and sightsee. Since the summer temperatures can get rather brutal, we put off our trip until November, when things cool down quite a bit. As a bonus, we got to experience an extra ten days of Daylight Saving Time, since most of Arizona doesn’t practice the crazy twice-a-year clock dance.
One of our favorite Arizona destinations is Jerome, an old mining town perched on a hillside at an elevation of about 5,200 feet. The 2-hour drive from Phoenix features winding roads and twisting hairpin turns which makes it a destination for motorcyclists – not our mode of travel but it looked like it could be fun.
In the 1920s Jerome was home to one of the world’s most lucrative copper mines but plummeting prices in the 1950s led to its downturn. Fortunately, in the 1960s, the town experienced a renaissance when hippies and artists – attracted by the open vistas and cheap real estate – moved in and began to open shops, galleries, and restaurants.
We love to wander the hilly streets, peruse the shops, and take in the views that stretch across the Verde Valley to Sedona’s red rocks and distant San Francisco mountains. In 1976, Jerome was designated a National Historic Landmark District so you won’t find a gas station or a Walmart there, just a funky blend of fine art and steam punk, saloons and restaurants, old hippies and older buildings… and ghosts (although we didn’t see any of those while there).
Jerome can also be an avid picture-taker’s paradise and I found a lot that captured my attention.
I was taking a picture of this:
When a man stepping out of his truck said that I might be interested in taking a picture of the doors located behind a locked gate:
It turns out that man was the artist and craftsman of both that door and this one:
He invited us into his woodshop and treated us to a personal tour of the historic building it is located in.
Our hotel once served as Jerome’s hospital from the 1920s thru the 1950s:
Some more openings around Jerome that caught my attention:
I hope you enjoyed a short tour of Jerome, Arizona. It’s definitely worth a stop if you are in the area.
Please check out Dan’s blog to see some more Thursday Doors… and maybe link a few of your own.
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I’ve visited a few times and always enjoy the sights and shops! Sounds like a perfect getaway.
This was our third visit and we will probably go again in the future. It has the perfect combination of art and vistas… and lots of nice people.
Janis, Beautiful vistas and a fabulous door collection. My favourites are the mysterious gate and the Otis elevator door.
I really enjoyed the elevator as well as the other touches of history the hotel offered. No ghosts though, which was a bit disappointing.
What a wonderful visit and such beautifully photographed doors. Thank you for taking us along with you — you made me feel like I was actually there!
It is such a funky little town… I bet you’d enjoy it too.
Janis, these photos are great. I’ve been there, and you introduced me to things I’ve never seen. I especially love your second picture framed in leaves. But all your finds are magnificent! 🙂
Jerome was such a nice contrast to the hustle and traffic of Phoenix. I know we missed a few things there too, so we’ll probably be back. The hotel was lovely and a great place to stay.
I hope you do, then I’m sure we can squeeze in some time together!
I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Such an interesting place.
I love the history and the fact that they have kept development out. I imagine a miner from 100 years ago would still recognize it today.
I’ve never heard of Jerome but it looks like a beautiful little unspoiled community. Now that I think about it, I’ve never been in Arizona. My loss, obviously.
Arizona had a lot to offer… as long as you visit in the spring or fall. I don’t know how people manage in the 120+ temps in the summer (although Jerome would be much cooler at that elevation).
What an interesting little place. Loved the pun about the cafe… 🙂 The views from over the town are spectacular as well!
I love discovering little towns like that. Give me history, art galleries, and good food and I’m happy.
My visit to Jerome was in dense fog so we saw nothing. We enjoyed the ghost town and paused for a wine tasting. Seeing your doors makes me want to have a do over in the town of Jerome.
Oh no! I hope you are able to return some day. I seem to remember fog the last time we were there, but it cleared up by the afternoon. I hope the wine tasting helped to make up for the fog. 🙂
I love the pictures. They literally took me through the whole town and I i thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing this ☺️
You are welcome! I hope you get a chance to visit Jerome in real life some day!
Oh yes! I actually added it to my bucket list 😊 it looks so beautiful and peaceful 🤩
Stunning doors, Janis, and I love that first shot with the Sedona red in the background.
I love how the red rocks lit up in the setting sun.
Never been there but based on your story and photos looks like we should go! We’re Day 1 in Tanzania — rainy, beautiful gardens. 26 hour trip was not as brutal as it sounds … and being able to lie down to sleep last night was a welcome change.
Hi world traveler! I am so anxious to hear all about your trip when you get back. Have a wonderful time.
Nice adventure with beautiful landscape viewing along with some amazing doors. Meeting the craftsman was a bonus that I’m sure you both enjoyed. I like AZ’s idea of not changing the time twice a year. That would be my bonus. 🙂
We have great luck running into interesting people. He was so generous with his time and knowledge. I loved having the extra week+ of Daylight Saving… but now we are back to the reality of time changes. 🙂
How lovely! I remember we passed through Jerome the year we visited Arizona, I think on our way to Sedona. Clearly we should have stopped!
Jerome is not too far from Sedona so I’m sure you either passed through or at least passed by the turnoff. Next time, stop! 🙂
Great photos, Janis. We loved Jerome when we drove through one year. It’s the perfect little historic town – super picturesque, funky, and original in a beautiful setting.
I’m surprised how many commenters have been to Jerome. It really is a special and quirky community. I’m so happy that developers haven’t been able to come in and change the character.
Wow–those are great doors! Now I want to take a week in Jerome. 🙂
It’s pretty small so a whole week might be more than you need… but definitely a couple of days. 🙂
Love the gate to nowhere. Perfectly peculiar. Love seeing an old Otis elevator like the ones in department stores when I was a child. Jerome looks like an interesting place to visit. Thanks for taking us along.
The elevator was wonderful. I always was slightly relieved when it actually took us to our floor and the doors opened as they were supposed to… but it worked every time 🙂
Fantastic doors post. I love the gate to nowhere and discoveries beyond. Interesting town.
The gate was really special. As far as I could tell, there had never been anything on the other side.
Interesting doors!
Thank you, Kate.
We visited Jerome before we moved to Arizona with friends from Prescott. I loved it. Our friend rides his bike on those roads!
Bicycle or motorcycle? We saw both on the hills going up. The road was awfully narrow for the bicycles (sharing the space with cars) and I worried that they might get hit by a motorist who wasn’t paying attention.
Bicycle. We were so worried when he told us he liked to ride there. It was so narrow!
Yikes, I’d worry too. I hope your friend stays safe.
Great doors, and how exciting for you to meet that artist. He’d fit right into the Thursday Doors crowd wouldn’t he.😀
It was really interesting to learn about his craft. I mentioned that he’d probably appear on a Thursday Doors post 🙂
😍
How cool that you got to chat with the door artist. I’ve only been to Jerome once, but I remember it as the best part of Arizona for me. Lovely openings.
I agree, Jerome is special. I love the ambiance, views, and artistic vibe.
Beautiful photos, Janis! I’ve only been in Arizona once (in September) – it was 112 degrees and we couldn’t touch the steering wheel on our rental car when we picked it up. We stayed in Sedona for one night and then headed west to a work conference in Bakersfield, CA – stopping along the way at the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas….and then heading up the coast to Seattle after the conference. I would definitely want to see more of Arizona some day.
Deb
Yikes, Arizona in September! Next time plan a fall or spring visit. November was perfect for us; we even saw a lot of colorful autumn leaves… something that we don’t see much of where we live.
Jerome looks like a fascinating destination, Janis. Maybe we’ll check it out while we are in AZ for the month of January. How fun to be taking pics and someone offers you a tour! Nicely done on the images–so many are brown that I added yours to my brown color challenge round-up! Lucky you to get some extra daylight!
Thank you, Terri! I would definitely plan on a stop in Jerome… overnight if you can manage it. The extra daylight was a bonus!
I would imagine Arizona would be a good place for vintage cars, too, due to it’s lack of humidity. Bed enough driving around hairpin corners in a car let alone a motorbike, yikes. The doors are incredible in size and design.
I bet that’s true about the cars. There is a huge airplane “graveyard” near Tucson where over 3,000 decommissioned planes are stored because the arid desert climate prevents rust. It’s supposed to have a really interesting tour.
Yes, I have heard of that place and I’m sure it was on our 6’o clock news not that long along. It would be interesting to have a tour around there.
You found a lot of great doors. I love that gate to nowhere. Pretty cool that you got to meet the artist. The entrance to the hotel, at the top of those magnificent stairs is amazing. I like your thoughts on the weathered old door 😉
Old bordello locations and ghosts are quite a “thing” in Jerome. I imagine the former was quite popular with the miners. 🙂
Jerome sounds lovely! And how lucky to get a personal tour from a true artist!
We were so lucky to have crossed paths with the artist. He was so nice and generous with his time.
“Crazy good” food….haha Janis. I read all the captions! I love Arizona, so many cool towns.
I’m glad you caught that 🙂 Arizona does have some cool towns. We also visited Bisbee on this trip.
What a wonderfully creative experience in a very interesting city. I was in Jerome years ago and haven’t thought of it in a long time. You inspire me to visit again at some point. My husband’s sister and family lived in Arizona (she’s now deceased) and we used to go all the time. I really enjoyed your post, Janis.
Thanks, Debra. I hope you have the opportunity to visit Jerome – and Arizona – again. It’s a relatively easy drive for us… and we don’t have to drive through LA!
A man steps out of his truck and talks to you about what you’re observing then turns out he’s the artist and takes you on a personal tour! Places like Jerome enable such encounters, IMHO. What a great experience, Janis!
I love the way you think! He was such a nice guy and seemed to really enjoy showing off his work and the building his shop was in. I just love when things like that happen!
Me, too!
What a fun place to visit and how lucky you were to have one of the artists give you a tour. As I read about each of the doors, I realized that not only was this a great recap of your visit to Jerome, but a lot of great door images for Dan’s Thursday doors. I remember an elevator like that from many years ago in the old Hudson’s Department Store in Downtown Detroit. It was imploded in 1983, but was the hubbub of activity for the entire shopping district for decades, especially at Christmastimes when it became a magical wonderland. That store had an elevator operator in a uniform with white gloves and called out each floor as we silently glided from level to level. Too bad you didn’t get to find out if the Asylum Restaurant was crazy good. I especially like the weathered wood on that last set of doors.
The Hotel Del Coronado here in San Diego has one of those wonderful old elevators, complete with a white-gloved operator. I imagine there aren’t many still in existence, sadly. I hope to get back to Jerome one of these days. I know I missed a few of the sights, and I’d love to dine at the Asylum… and maybe see a ghost 🙂
Those vintage elevators and operator are slowly fading away, but gave Hudson’s flagship store elegance until the very end. Hudson’s was just a tad smaller than Macy’s flagship store in NY. It had 32 floors and 51 passenger elevators, so lots of operators. I hope you get back there so you can fill us in on the Asylum and a potential ghost. 🙂
I will do my best! 🙂
What a cool place. I had to laugh that the hotel was once a hospital. I can’t see wheelchairs or gurneys navigating those stairs very well – haha.
The stairs that led up to the restaurant wasn’t the entrance to the hotel (or, presumably, the hospital). It was around the corner to the left. The hotel was at the very top of a hill, though, so getting the patient there would have required transportation. It did seem like an odd place to locate a hospital… although, as a hotel, the views were lovely.
Cool place!
It is!
A Door Artisan! I hope you mentioned your blog and the enthusiasts here 🙂
I did mention that I’d probably share a few pictures on my blog… and that there was this “thing” called Thursday Doors. 🙂
We are a thing for sure 😁
Please tell me “I hear it’s crazy good” is an intentional pun!
Jerome looks like a very interesting place to explore. There’s a Jerome in Idaho that, let’s just say, lacks much of anything worthwhile.
Good to know not to make a special side trip to Jerome, Idaho. And, yes, “crazy good” was intentional. 🙂
What a fun tour! Thank you, Janis, for sharing your visit. I have never been to Jerome (never heard of it even), although I’ve visited Arizona several times. Should I make it out to the southwest again, I’ll make a point of visiting Jerome. It sounds like my kind of community (i.e., no Walmart).
It was so nice to roam around and not see a single chain store. I hope you get a chance to visit one of these days.
What a fun place to visit with a camera, Janis. It’s amazing how many rundown places were rescued by artists and hippies, isn’t it? I love gates in general and these were beautiful. The Medusa Door was distinctive, that’s for sure! 😀
I was told that the woman who owns the building has an affinity for snakes and there were a few artistic representations of them here and there. Artists and hippies (I hope they are still in existence) have the vision and creativity that is needed to look beyond the rundown edifices and see what could be. Thank goodness for them!
The door was beautiful, honestly, but I’d opt for owls and wolves. Lol. I think the hippies and artists are still at work, though anyone who sees the beauty in old things counts. 🙂
What a surprise Jerome is. Lovely that it was able to rise like a Phoenix after its coal mining days.
And that gate to nowhere is a mystery!
Isn’t that gate wonderful? Not only is there nothing behind it (but a bit of a hill), they have it locked with a beautiful lion’s head padlock. Someone has a good sense of humor.
The lion’s head makes me think of the Narnia books.
I’ve not heard of Jerome before, but what a wonderfully funky place it both sounds and looks from your photos. Artists have always been great at finding such places and making them their own community. Love it!
Thank goodness for artists and hippies! I imagine a miner magically returning from 100 years ago would recognize most of the buildings and stores, but they would be selling much different items.
Coincidentally, Jerome was on our list of possible stops on the tour of the southwest that we just finished up earlier this month, but we just didn’t have time to fit it in. So I was extra appreciative of your very timely tour and fabulous photos. Wishing you and Paul a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thank you, Mary. Best Thanksgiving wishes to you and Alan also. I hope you get to Jerome on one of your future trips, I know that you’d enjoy it.
Jerome is wonderful! And if you liked it, you’d probably enjoy Bisbee, the other funky-cool mining town on a hill in Arizona.
We got down there too (somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a long time)! I plan on doing another Thursday Doors post on Bisbee.
It’s been at least 20 years since we’ve been to Jerome, so this was a fun tour! And of course I enjoy seeing the town through your creative lens. 🙂 How cool that you met up with the artist who made those interesting doors! I’m looking forward to your photos of Bisbee. That’s one of our favorite quirky, colorful little towns, and we stayed there many times in our full-time RV travels.
What a joy it was to see your comment appear this morning. I was just thinking about you and was going to send you a note to check in… and here you are! I hope that you will update us on your tiny house adventure.
Jerome was a lot of fun and Bisbee was a treat too (hopefully I’ll get a new Thursday Door post out about it tomorrow). I just love those funky little towns… and fear that they are disappearing as costs go up and big money comes in.
Wow! Looks like a great place to visit and I love the doors you highlighted!
Wow… the photographs are amazing… especially the hidden art piece behind the woebegone gate and the setting sun through fall leaves ! Looks like a relaxing getaway Janis !
Thank you, it was a great getaway! I love being able to get out of town for a short while and explore.
Janis, a wonderful fun look at Jerome. And how lucky for you to meet the artist.
Those sorts of serendipitous meetings are one of my favorite parts of traveling. He was so happy to show us around and share his knowledge… and we were happy to take it all in.