COTTONWOOD IS 300 MILES FROM BISBEE, north-by-northwest for you Hitchcock fans. It is a much better deal, AirBnB-wise, than Sedona where we wanted to stay. Officially a mother-in-law suite, “The Miller’s” has a separate bedroom, full kitchen, washer/dryer, great wifi and plenty of hot water. Everything else we could want is within a couple of miles—Walmart, Fry’s, even a Great Clips.
Everything at your fingertips
Paul and Sue raved about Jerome, a now-defunct mining town in the hills outside of Cottonwood. Copper was discovered in 1876 but the prohibitive cost of transporting the ore forced the mine’s closure two years later. Boom and bust alternated through the Depression and the mines closed for good in 1953.
The Mines of Jerome
House of Joy—5 Girls, No Waiting
Upstairs, Downstairs
The old town itself is a lot like Bisbee with restored 19th Century bars, brothels and boarding houses turned antique and art galleries. The mouth-watering aroma of charring meat mixed with woodsmoke fills the thin air as tourists like us huff and puff up the hillside stairways.
Not all Hotels Are Haunted
Room 32, always occupied
If the rumors of hauntings and the adverts for ghost tours can be believed, the population must double at night with ghoulies and humans in equal numbers. The Grand Hotel, formerly a hospital, is the paranormal headquarters of Jerome with Room 32 the epicenter of hauntings. We can neither confirm nor deny—we left before dark.
