Jerome, Arizona is a favorite local spot in Northern Arizona, embracing its status as a ghost town and offering a quaint mountain retreat for travelers along Highway 89A. Among the spooky attractions that Jerome has to offer is the Jerome Grand Hotel, which is known as Arizona’s mile high historic landmark. The hotel is a stunning example of Spanish Mission architecture, and it is an engineering marvel, designed to withstand nearby mining blasts and fires. These features have allowed the hotel to stand the test of time as other structures in the surrounding ghost town have suffered a much more severe fate. Read on to learn more about this captivating gem that lies just off the beaten path on Cleopatra Hill overlooking the town of Jerome.
Hotel History
As a mining town, Jerome was once home to nearly 15,000 people. With this booming population, medical services were needed in the region, so the United Verde Hospital was built. This building was the 4th and final hospital constructed in the city, and it was the last major construction project to take place in Jerome. The medical facilities operated from 1927 to 1950 as the most state-of-the-art hospital in the region. Once the hospital was shut down with diminishing mining operations, the building stood unused for 44 years, though it was maintained for emergency preparedness. Finally, the property was purchased by the Altherr family and restored as a hotel. The hotel is a historic landmark, and it retains a number of unique features, including the slow-moving Otis Elevator, which was Arizona’s first self-service elevator.
Haunted Happenings
Aside from the breathtaking beauty of the hotel structure, the Jerome Grand Hotel is widely known for its paranormal activity. Hauntings have been reported since the building operated as a hospital, though there are theories that many modern ghost sightings can be attributed to the some 9,000 deaths that occurred during the hospital’s operation, including one of suspicious circumstances involving maintenance man Claude Harvey.
This article is part of a series on Arizona’s Amazing Roadside Attractions
