This Arizona town was so wicked, even the jail tried to “escape”

Jerome’s Sliding Jail and Stone-Deaf Judge’s Court

Jerome earned its name as the “Wickedest Town in the West” the hard way.

Back in 1903, this Arizona copper boomtown had one saloon for every hundred folks among its 15,000 residents. When the jail got full, the town constable just chained drunks to a huge mill wheel.

But these crafty prisoners picked up the wheel together and hauled it to the nearest bar, asking for an ax to fit through the door. Even the stone-deaf judge, Lewis St.

James, ran his court by guessing how much cash each person carried—then fined them that exact amount. Later on, the jail itself broke loose after mining blasts and slid 225 feet downhill.

The sliding jail still sits there today, a perfect symbol of a town where even the lockup couldn’t stay put.

Three Guys Struck Copper Gold on Cleopatra Hill

Angus McKinnon and Morris Ruffner filed the first copper mining claims on Cleopatra Hill in 1876. Spanish explorers spotted these copper deposits nearly 300 years earlier but thought mining them cost too much.

The government kicked Yavapai and Apache tribes off their 800-square mile land in 1875, opening the area to miners.

Miners set up their first camp around a metal water tank they hauled from Prescott by mule train in 1879.

The camp’s first building wasn’t a church or store but a two-story saloon and brothel built by madam Nora “Butter” Brown next to that water tank.

United Verde Copper Company Turned a Camp into a Town

Frederick Tritle and Frederick Thomas bought the claims from those first miners in 1880.

They started the United Verde Copper Company in 1883 with money from eastern businessmen James MacDonald and Eugene Jerome. They named the growing camp Jerome after Eugene, who was Winston Churchill’s mother’s cousin.

The company built a small smelter and made wagon roads to Prescott and the railroad depot at Ash Fork. Everything closed in late 1884 when copper prices dropped by half and wagon transport made mining too costly.

Montana Copper King Made Jerome His Money Machine

William Clark, a copper boss from Montana, bought the United Verde Copper Company in 1888 for just $80,000. Clark built a narrow-gauge railroad to Jerome Junction with 187 curves and 28 bridges in the final 14 miles.

By the early 1890s, Clark made $1 million per month from Jerome.

The town grew from tents to wooden buildings with a post office in the local store by 1885 and four saloons by 1887. United Verde had over 300 men working as miners, smelter workers, and teamsters by 1890.

Newspapers Called Jerome the "Wickedest Town in America"

The San Francisco Examiner gave Jerome the title “wickedest town in America” in 1899 for having “one beggarly looking church and at least sixteen saloons.”

A Phoenix newspaper wrote that the town had about one saloon for every 100 people that year. Jerome became an official town in 1899 after huge fires between 1894-1898 burned down most businesses.

Becoming a real town let them set up a fire department, building codes, and water system. The town picked local store owner and rancher William Munds as its first mayor.

Miners From 30 Countries Packed the Booming Town

Jerome’s population hit 15,000 during World War I’s copper boom, making it Arizona’s fourth-largest city. Miners came from over 30 countries including Ireland, Italy, Poland, Germany, and Croatia.

The town kept 21 saloons, eight brothels, and many opium dens open around the clock. Lewis St. James worked as the local judge despite being stone deaf and unable to hear any testimony.

He knew most lawbreakers personally and somehow knew exactly how much money they carried, fining them precisely that amount.

Drunks Carried Their Prison to the Bar

When the jail got full, the town cop chained about a dozen rowdy drunks to a huge mill wheel. These clever prisoners picked up the wheel together and carried it to the nearest saloon.

They asked the bartender for an ax so they could make the door wider for them and their mill wheel to get inside and join the party.

This story shows Jerome’s wild spirit, where even being locked up couldn’t keep miners from their drinks. The miners showed how far they’d go to keep partying, prison wheel and all.

The Ground Under Jerome Started Falling Apart

The constant underground blasting and tunneling made Jerome’s spot on steep Cleopatra Hill unstable. Mine fires burned for decades in the high-sulfur ores, forcing a switch from underground to open-pit mining by 1919.

By 1928, the sinking ground damaged at least 10 downtown buildings beyond repair. Landslides and cracked foundations became normal throughout Jerome’s mining years.

Several buildings including the movie theater, pharmacy, pool hall, and JC Penney store slid down the hillside.

The Town Built a Concrete Cell Block for Weekend Troublemakers

Jerome built its third jail in the town yard between Main Street and Hull Avenue in the mid-1920s. They made a concrete cell block as part of a larger wood and tin building to hold the town’s frequent troublemakers.

The jail needed to fit all the miners who got rowdy during their weekend drinking in the saloons. Louis St. James kept serving as judge.

Earlier jails included one in the basement of Tony Kauzlarich House below Dicus and Wagner Garage in 1905.

A Mining Blast Sent the Jail Sliding Down the Hill

A powerful underground blast in 1938 knocked the jail building off its foundation during mining operations. The concrete cell block pulled away from the wooden structure and slowly slid down Cleopatra Hill.

The jail moved 225 feet from where it started and landed right in the middle of Hull Avenue. Workers had to change the road to go around the jail since it blocked traffic.

The jail kept moving until it reached the spot where tourists can see it today.

The Copper Boom Went Bust After $1 Billion in Metals

William Clark died in 1925, and his sons and grandson all died by 1934 during the Great Depression.

The Clark family sold their Jerome holdings to Phelps Dodge Corporation in 1935 as copper prices fell through the floor.

The final closure came in 1953 when Phelps Dodge shut down after taking more than $1 billion in metals from the area.

The population dropped from its peak of 15,000 to fewer than 100 residents as mining families left town. Jerome almost became a complete ghost town as companies bulldozed buildings and infrastructure.

The Jail That Couldn’t Stay Put Became a Tourist Favorite

Jerome Historical Society bought the sliding jail in 2017 and added retaining walls to keep it stable. They put an iron fence around the jail to stop it from moving more and to keep visitors safe.

The sliding jail became the perfect symbol of Jerome’s lawless character, where even the buildings meant to hold criminals couldn’t stay in place.

Today the jail serves as a tourist attraction telling the story of the “Wickedest Town in the West” and its wild mining days.

The Arizona Department of Transportation eventually pushed the jail completely off Hull Avenue to its current spot beside a parking area.

Visiting Jerome Historic District, Arizona

You can see Jerome’s famous sliding jail for free at Hull Avenue near Diaz Street, just below the public parking lots. The two concrete cells still have their barred windows and a bed inside.

After a mining explosion, this jail slid 225 feet down the hill.

For more mining history, visit the Douglas Mansion museum at Jerome State Historic Park for $7 or the Jerome Historical Society Mine Museum on Main Street for $2.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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