Books About Jerome, Arizona
There have been several books written about Jerome and its history. Here are a few that might be of interest. Some are available on Amazon.com, others are only available from sources in town. While you’re on the home tour, be sure to look for these books in shops or from the sources listed below. Books published by Haven Methodist Church are available at the church for a small donation. The church is located at what is usually the halfway point of the annual Jerome Home Tour, and they serve refreshments and have restrooms.
Home Sweet Jerome: Death and Rebirth of Arizona’s Richest Copper Mining City
by Diane Sward Rapaport
The first book on Jerome’s history after 1953. When mining left the town in the early 1950’s most thought the town would close down all together. But Jerome was too stubborn to die and it has become Arizona’s most famous ghost town and a notorious and loveable hippie hideout.
Dan Engler at the Verde Independent said:
More than anything else, Home Sweet Jerome is a story of that endless saga of the changing of the guard; of how the young replace the old…Rapaport digs into the deepest corners of Jerome’s historical treasure chest. From the underground marijuana economy to the leading-edge tech advances by the Jerome Instrument Corporation to the infamous drug raid in 1985 to the art renaissance we enjoy today, Diane Sward Rapaport’s Home Sweet Jerome is meticulously researched and masterfully penned by someone who lived it. And, most importantly, loved it.”
Jerome, Arizona Tourguide
published by Haven United Methodist Church, available from the church for a donation
The purpose of the JEROME TOURGUIDE is to add to the pleasure of your visit by briefing you on Jerome’s proud past, pinpointing various locations of historic buildings now gone, those left standing – some intact and some in various stages of restoration or reconstruction.
This book gives a brief history of Jerome and its founders, as well as most of the prominent buildings in town. Includes a centerfold map of town. The cover features a photo of Jerome taken by John W.Jenkins, a past pastor of Haven United Methodist Church.
They Came To Jerome: The Billion Dollar Copper Camp
by Herbert V. Young, published and distributed by the Jerome Historical Society
This is the most comprehensive book about Jerome Arizona’s history during the mining era. It chronicles the town’s life from its beginnings as a copper camp in the late 1800s through its mining heyday before the Great Depression. Herbert Young was secretary to the general manager of Jerome’s United Verde Copper Company and his writings draw upon 43 years of experience in the development and decline of Jerome’s mining operations.