Jerome State Historic Park Visitors Center

My family and I stopped by Jerome while on a family vacation to Arizona and to be quite honest I really did not know much about this town until I watched an episode of Ghost Adventures.
We decided to check out Jerome’s State Historic park located ~5000+ ft with its spectacular views of the red rocks and the Verde Valley. There is plenty of public parking and the entrance fee is $ 7 per person to enter the historical museum which was in the Douglas Mansion. The employees were very friendly. This was a very educational experience. In the beginning there was a 20 minute video presentation and introduction on the history of the town of Jerome and the mansion had a variety of history exhibits, antique mining equipment, mining model displays, mineral displays and so much more.
It was just very interesting to learn about Jerome which was founded in the 1800s and how it became this thriving copper mining town with a population of 15,000 at its peak and how it became to be today as the largest ghost town in America. There is just so much history in this place and just very fascinating to be able to see it all. Definitely worth a trip if you’re in the area!

This place was very interesting. To think that it was a house back in the day. There is a fee of like $ 5 per person. There was also a little video to watch to get the history of the place. Definitely stop by. It was interesting to see how ‘modern’ this place was and the way people lived back then. Lots of information. Great if you like this type of history. We spent about an hour there. Great view from the parking lot and around building. Make sure to go outside and see some of the ‘exhibits’.

This historic state park consists of the Audrey Shaft Headframe and the main museum in the Douglas Mansion. Stop at the headframe first then head up to the mansion and start with the half hour video (on the hour/​half hour). We spent a day in Jerome and starting here was the perfect introduction! Plan for about 1 – 1.5 hours depending on the amount you stop and read within the museum.

Fascinating little museum with lots of interesting information and exhibits. Loved the mining equipment on the second floor and the 3D model of the mine. Plus the view is great from the parking lot.

Have you ever been a ghost town? Well this place is pretty much that but in a good way this Jerome State Park keeps up with history. Back in the days I believe in the 1920’s Jerome was actually a very busy place because they did a lot of mining in the area.
This park has a video that is pretty interesting and talks about the history and people that lived there. Also they have lots of old stuff from that period all around the house. Upstairs and downstairs.
I think if you are wanting to do something relaxing and not feel the heat this is a great place to check out because everything is indoors.

Hardly worth 10 bucks, but we only payed eight, so i felt like I got a good deal with an obscure coupon from WHERE magazine. The film was very entertaining and gave us a good history of the area, but not exactly a true history. The town’s nickname was «The Wickedest town in the West» but that seedier side (which was played up in Tombstone) was downplayed and ignored in this video. Still, there are plenty of exhibits and tidbits to check out inside the mansion and the dude who the town was named after never even stepped foot in Jerome. The views from outside are pretty spectacular either looking out towards the valley or up at the big J and the town. Mining really doesn’t interest me, but the town and the history of its rise and fall are both worth the price of admission.

Jerome is one of those Arizona gems that is just a joy each and every time you go. Funky and historical, artsy and mystical — Jerome has it all not to mention one of the best views in the state. I think Jerome is almost everyone’s favorite AZ haunted town.

Everything about Jerome is so fun. If you’re close by, don’t miss it. You can definitely make a day of it — stellar views looking out over the Verde Valley, lots of funky little shops and bistros, lots of cool history … great fun.

We really enjoyed our visit to this State park. The museum is housed in a 1916 mansion, which has interesting displays. We especially liked the rooms kept as they were when the Douglas family built it.

Really enjoyed this museum and the history lesson on Jerome and the Douglas family. The movie was very informative and the staff also were well-​informed and helpful to us history buffs. Spectacular views of the Verde Valley and the scenic town of Jerome too. Well worth the $ 5 admission.

Cool city. Worth the trip.

How interesting could a mining museum in an old mansion be? It turns out to be well worth the trip up the mountain. The view is magnificent, but the engineering of the mine equipment is fascinating.
Beyond the old mining equipment, the history of Jerome is interesting: from boom to bust in a generation. As long as the mine was successful, so was the town. Here is a little tidbit. The mine was predominately a copper mine, but there was enough gold and silver taken out of the mine to cover all its operating expenses for the duration of the mine. All the copper was pure profit.
If you are going from Sedona to Prescott, you have to climb over the mountain anyway. So stop and check it out.

Anyone driving the twisty roads to Jerome should first visit this surprisingly colorful museum.
The setting is the Douglas mansion, erected in 1916, by a family from Canada who made it big in the mining industry. Interestingly, the family didn’t spend much time at this luxurious adobe home because the pollution from mining didn’t make sitting on the veranda the pleasant experience it is today. Fortunately, there is no longer any smog to stifle the views down to the valley or up to Cleopatra Hill.
The museum itself is packed with photos, displays, artifacts, and curiosities (such as one of the stone griffins removed from London’s Parliament Hill and a buggy loaned to RKO Studios for the 1955 movie Oklahoma that was filmed in Elgin, Arizona). The placards alone are quite informative.
I don’t recall any museums that I would like to call home but I would gladly move in and set up my comfy lounge chair on the shady veranda.

This was an interesting spot to stop to get more information about the history of this funky ghost town. It is a State Park/​Historic Site, entry fee of 5 $ was reasonable. Cute but corny film, informative displays inside and outside.
Don’t miss the flourescent rocks if you are into geology, or just like cool stuff. An excellent stop and they have a tamale cookbook in their giftshop that sorely tempted me. Now I am wanting tamales.

I have always wanted to head up to Jerome to check it out and we couldn’t have picked a more perfect day! You could see for mile and miles and the temp was in the high 60’s.
Now, on to the museum. I loved the fact that the Douglas family left the mansion to the town of Jerome. Being able to walk in the mansion and see all the history of Jerome was certainly a blast from the past.
We started out by going into the video room where there was a short 20 minute video giving you all the history of this little gem of a town and it had a bit of humor added to it… it was great to watch. Afterwards we walked freely around the house and grounds reading all the info and taking pics.
It was great, I loved it and would highly recommend!

While visiting friends and family in Arizona, my friends and I decided to check out Jerome which is supposedly a ghost town. We couldn’t have picked a better day. As we drove to Jerome it was gloomy, rainy and foggy.
You know when you’re watching a horror movie and you just know something horrible is about to happen (of course the background music makes it even scarier) and you’re yelling at the TV, screaming at the people to turn around? But they keep on driving only to get killed by some psycho. You probably tell yourself, «What a bunch of idiots, if it was me, I’d turn around.» Well that’s what it was like driving to Jerome State Historic Park. We were engulfed in fog.
If you’ve never driven through fog before, I can tell you first hand it’s hell of a spooky. We couldn’t see 3 feet in front of us and I was positive we would see the lunatic from Saw standing in the middle of the road with his chainsaw at some point. I even whipped out my iPhone and started video taping, just in case. Ok but this review isn’t about our scary drive up to Jerome, sorry, got side tracked a bit… lol.
If you’re ever in Arizona and you’re interested in history. Jerome is well worth the drive (just don’t go on a foggy and wet day). In the mid 1800’s (I think) Jerome was known for it’s copper mining. The historic park has lots of old artifact from and mining equipment. They had some very old mining carts outside which was really neat.
The museum it’s self was built as a residential house by the Douglas family (and it sits on top of a mountain) but was also used at a hotel/​dorm for miners and investors.
There’s also a very old carriage house on site. As you walk through the museum, you get a sense of how life must’ve been in the mid 1800s. It was like being propelled back in time. What I thought was very interesting is one of the rangers told us that Douglas was way ahead of his time and had lot of modern amenities placed in his house when he was having it built.
There is also a gem room. You go behind a black curtain and when you turn on the black light, the gems glow… naturally. You can also watch a video that tells you more details on the history. I won’t give you a history lesson here… boring I know, lol. If you’re interested in old Americana, the trip is def worth it. Though we went on a gloomy day, I can only imagine the scenery must be spectacular as we were high up in the mountains.
Also the town of Jerome is worth a stop over. Lots of very old buildings that were over 100 years old. Very charming town.

Took the wrong road going into Jerome with my nephew, and ended up at the Visitor’s Center. The Visitor’s Center is a bit past the actual town, but well worth the detour. We enjoyed all the history, and old mining equipment. When you go to the gemstone room definitely walk behind the black curtain and turn off the light. The stone actually glow… a truly phenomenal site! Highly recommended.
«This historic house museum is devoted to the history of the Jerome area, mining, and the Douglas family. The museum features exhibits with historic photographs, artifacts, and minerals in addition to a video presentation and a 3-​D model of the town with its underground mines. The Douglas library and upstairs bathroom are furnished as period rooms. An outside exhibit area surrounding the mansion includes mining equipment and interpretive panels. The adjacent „Carriage house“ contains a buggy owned by the Douglas’s and „Smokey Joe“ a 1929 Ford Model A truck from Jerome.»