Another building still present in the smelter yard is the smelter superintendent's house, built in 1915. The photo shows the residence in 1916.

In 1949, when a survey was completed by Phelps-Dodge, "the former Smelter Superintendent's House No. 50...has no sale value for occupancy unless the smelter plant is disposed of for industrial purposes."  The two-story residence was originally built at a cost of $7,416 to house the smelter superintendent and his family.  Later improvements of $10,000 were added. With occupancy, it is listed as having a value of $1500. (1949).  It sat adjacent to the smelter which comprised 196 acres all fenced. The slag pile covered  32 acres. 

The story of the United Verde Smelters would be incomplete without mention of Thomas Taylor, who is credited with the great success of United Verde Copper Company [UVCC]. In 1930 he was the general smelter superintendent, having worked his way from furnace foreman to general smelter superintendent over a career of 33 years.  Early photos of Wm. A. Clark, inspecting the proposed smelter site in 1910, identify him as one of the 5 men accompanying Clark. In 1935, United Verde Copper Company was purchased by Phelps Dodge [PD] Corporation at a cost of $20.8 million including assets of the local utilities and the Verde Tunnel and Smelter Railroad. It is estimated PD made about $40 million in profits between 1935 and 1953. PD brought some of their own executives in as managers:  William Saben 1935-1940, Charles R. Kuzell 1940-1944, Morris G. Fowler 1942-1943, John Pullen 1943-1948, and Carl Mills 1948-1950.  The current Clarkdale Police Station (originally a hospital) was numbered as House No. 49. It was built in 1921 and at  some point became the new Smelter Superintendent's House until the smelter closed in 1953. Then it became a private residence.

submitted by Cindy Emmett

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The Hopewell Townsite was a neighborhood built around a tunnel which provided a critical part of the ore transportation to the smelter. Very little is left of this early townsite today located approximately 1.25 miles north of Jerome and 1/5-mile northeast of the open pit in Jerome. 

The term "townsite" was used by United Verde Copper Company [UVCC] to designate company neighborhoods at Hopewell, the 500 ft. level, the 300 ft. level, and Sunshine Hill.  A vital link in the mining operation of UVCC during the first half of the 20th century was Hopewell. Its importance was derived from the fact that it served as a transfer point for the shipment of ore from mine to smelter from 1915 to 1953, replacing the early cumbersome ore wagons. It began when the company started excavating a drain tunnel to remove water from underground mining in December 1906. Tunnel construction began at the 1,000 ft. level to extend more than a mile in an easterly direction, terminating on a hillside overlooking the Verde River. The termination point would eventually become Hopewell. Excavation began from each end of the tunnel. Crews met at the junction to complete the tunnel in September 1908. The mining engineer, Septembere Hopkins took satisfaction in the fact that the junction was near perfect, varying by only 3/8 of an inch, and no one had been seriously injured during the project. Census records do not indicate anyone living there in 1910, but by 1920, census taker Edith Whitaker recorded 122 persons living in the Hopewell Tunnel District.

Eighty-nine of them resided in 29 households (1-10 persons). The other 33 individuals resided at the bunkhouse (also called the providing house). Twenty-eight of the 29 households rented their homes, with one owner-occupied. The Hopewell bunkhouse was predominantly Hispanic when the census was taken in 1920. Two men oversaw the bunkhouse.  All but three adult males were employed in a wide variety of occupations in 1920.  The little community suffered a setback in 1923 when UVCC closed the ore-crushing mill where many Hopewell residents were employed. The Hopewell crusher could not keep pace with the Clarkdale Smelter. However, Hopewell continued to be an important site for ore haulage, storage, and transfer; low-grade ore leaching, and mine waste disposal. Jobs associated with these provided a means to sustain the community.  By 1925, Hopewell had experienced a revival. There was now a commissary/store and the original bunkhouse. After a general cleanup, the Verde Copper News in March 1925 agreed it was now "quite a nice place to live".

This information was found in the manuscript entitled "United Verde Mine (2008-050-001) written by Pat Stein of the Arizona Preservation Consultants. Reprinted in the "Jerome Chronicle" by the The Jerome Historical Society, September 2008, Ron Roope, Editor.

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Part 2

In 1914 workmen widened the tunnel to 13 feet and added height to 9 feet and lengthened it another 600 feet. A bunkhouse, a half dozen cottages for families, a store, two corrals, company buildings and even a school completed the settlement.  Children at an early age were cautious of runaway ore cars when crossing a spur.  The ore cars were brought to Hopewell by electric locomotives. The Verde Tunnel and Smelter railroad took it to the smelter. It was sometimes known as the "Clarkdale & Jerome Elevator" because of the steep grade. It was also referred to as the "Very Tired and Slow (Sleepy)” railroad. The VT&S had nearly 186 curves in 10.87 miles. The trip took 45 minutes including a stop at MacDonald (another mine close by). The sharp curvature and steep (4% grades) seemed to invite accidents, despite the meticulous operating practices, which in turn disrupted the flow of copper ore to the smelter.  Heavy rains in 1916 derailed one of the locomotives. With other unplanned events happening, only one locomotive was available.  In 1917, five cars jumped the rails. One locomotive took it upon itself to roll unstoppably down the hill. One time a dump car (filled with rock debris) overturned on a curve and covered a small boy with gravel while playing in his own yard. He recovered from his injuries but was badly frightened. The population of Hopewell declined markedly during the Great Depression. By the end of 1931, of the 11 company-built houses built at Hopewell, only 2 remained occupied.  By 1939, only three houses received electricity services.  A foreman at the United Verde, Elmer E. Axford, stayed until 1942. When he retired, a new foreman took over. He stayed until 1946. One resident stayed at Hopewell in the 1950's and earned a living hauling groceries from Clarkdale to Jerome. This family, the Giustis may have been the last family to live at Hopewell. 

Information used for this article was taken from RAILROADS OF ARIZONA, Volume 6 JEROME and the NORTHERN ROADS, by David F. Myrick, 2010, and THE JEROME CHRONICLE, published by the Jerome Historical Society, March 2009.

article submitted by Cindy Emmett

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The community of Centerville was originally not on land owned by the United Verde Copper Company. However, running water and electricity were provided by the town. In the past it has sometimes been referred to as "Romita", according to one resident, Gloria Herrera.

It was founded by Mexican miners and smelter workers before World War I and later fell within the incorporated boundaries of Clarkdale (1957). At one point many years ago, some enterprising soul put up a wooden post with a plaque on top. He placed it in a dusty wash in Centerville, declaring the spot as the exact center of Arizona. But Marshall Trimble, our long-time state historian, disagrees completely. " I think those people need to go back to math class," said Trimble. The discussion doesn't end there and this article will only hold to the fact that the exact center is somewhere in Yavapai county. But Centerville's claim to fame is no laughing matter to locals. The history of Centerville is sketchy at best. During the 1920's, a Mr. Brown, who had purchased the community, sold the land to the Orrantia family. They are shown as residents in the 1920 census. Luis Orrantia was the first to get elected in Romita and his father was responsible for getting water diverted from the overflow of a reservoir. Manuel Varela owned a store in Centerville which provided groceries to its citizens. "Don" Manuel's son Marcelino went house to house taking orders, then would deliver them.  We know a resident Vicente Tomallo owned pigs, cows, chickens and made tamales. When the smelter closed, Jesus Carillo, from Jerome declared himself "Mayor of Centerville". He also worked for the town of Clarkdale. He decided to change the original street numbers to his friends' last names. This explains the familiar names of Calle Rosas, Calle Medina, Calle Tomallo, Calle Figueroa, Avenida Macias (see photo), Calle Carillo, Calle Padilla and others. Official street signs were added during the 1980's.

Information for this article was taken from an interview with Jesus Valdez, May 2, 2018, and from a special edition of "The Arizona Republic" entitled "Arizona Daily", July 2, 2000, and "The Oral History of Mary Rosas Ontiveros", recorded on DVD by Jim Gemmill on March 1, 2014.   

In the early days of mining, the saloon was the working man's club. The opportunity for outdoor sports was limited.  Through a $100,000 bequest made by William Andrews Clark, Clarkdale has a beautiful clubhouse. Which was dedicated to the employees and their families in appreciation for long years of faithful service.

There were no dues or membership fees, with the exception of the bowling alley, soda fountain, and the pool and billiards tables. Because Clark recognized the relative isolation of the area, he wished to give his employees facilities enjoyed in larger more metropolitan areas, from which many of them came.  Clark was generous to his company town and its employees; he was the first to introduce the eight-hour day in Montana's mines and claimed to have played an important role in passing a territorial law mandating the eight-hour day in Arizona's mines. (Some might argue it was the result of a successful strike for a reduced workday at the United Verde Mine in 1907.) To many young boys born and raised in Clarkdale, such as Jerry Wombacher  "...... we would roam the alleys looking for pop or beer bottles worth 1 or 2 cents when we took them back to the cigar store. Other jobs were caddying at the golf course or swimming in Peck's Lake to retrieve golf balls, which we cleaned and sold back to the golfers.  Setting pins at the bowling alley was one of the most sought-after jobs because the pin boys like me, got to play pool for free, before the bowlers arrived each night.  On a league night, we would make about $3.00 for working 6:00 to 10:30. We thought we were rich! We got 25 cents per game!"   Jerry's dad Dan Wombacher (in photo) purchased the Texaco Station after the mine and smelter closed, where Jerry worked pumping gas on weekends going to college.

submitted by Cindy Emmett from CHSM collection of oral histories

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There was no more dangerous job during World War II than flying bombing missions over enemy territory. 185 Arizona Hispanics served as pilots, co-pilots, bombardiers, gunners, and radio operators. One such pilot was Gilbert Orrantia, born in Clarkdale in 1917 and graduated from Clarkdale High School in 1936. 

Orrantia flew 50 missions in B-25's in 1942, then returned to become a combat flight instructor.  He attended what was then known as Arizona State Teachers College in Tempe for two years. He rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant. His first mission was in Northern Africa as a co-pilot. "As we're going over the field, all this flak is bursting around us, and we're jumping all over the sky. I look over to the left, and they hit a ship, and it was one of my buddies that--we had been all the way through together, and they blew that ship apart.  But, you know, they all got out. They all got out." explained Orrantia.

One of Orrantia's most harrowing experiences came on a low-altitude bombing mission. His job was to fly 200 feet above the ocean and skip bombs on the water like a stone into an enemy ship. "I remember we were so low, that my tail gunner would say, 'Lieutenant, dip the tail and I'll get us some fish for supper.' "  There were other frightening moments for Orrantia during his 50 missions, like a belly landing when his front nose gear would not deploy, or the time his plane's windshield was shattered.  After the war Orrantia worked as a community activist and a Professor of Foreign Language at Mesa Community College. It's been over 50 years since the Hispanic Flyboys of World War II took to the skies, but like those for whom they fought, the Flyboys will not soon forget it.

Gilbert's story has been featured in news articles, books, and television including the book, ARIZONA HISPANIC FLYBOYS, and a segment on the program "Horizons" on KAET Channel 8, from which this article was taken in 2011. He was inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame in November of 2003. On Sunday July 8, 2012, he passed with his family by his side.

submitted by Cindy Emmett  photo from the CHSM collection  Orantia Residence in Romita (Centerville)

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One of the largest business buildings on historic Main Street, the T. F. Miller Store was ready to be occupied in 1914, after the original T. F. Miller Store burned in December. The store was located in Lower Town by the railroad tracks, along with the Bank of Arizona and the Post Office.

The photo showing the businesses in 1912-13 was generously donated to CHSM by the Miller family. T. F. Miller married Mary Margaret Clark, the sister of William Andrews Clark, in Iowa in 1870.  T. F. Miller was the founder of the two T. F. Miller stores in Jerome and Clarkdale. He left his home in Iowa to go to Los Angeles where he managed a shipping business for copper and supplies. His son Walter Clark Miller was a business manager with the United Verde Copper Company. His wife, Laura Minty, was the daughter of the auditor and passenger agent of the United Verde Railway.  Charles Miller and James Miller (brothers to Walter) operated both stores respectively. James and his wife Florence lived in Clarkdale from 1912 to 1935, originally at 619 Third North St., then at 1307 First North St, 1915 to 1935. James died in 1935 in Clarkdale from a heart condition and is buried in Valley View Cemetery. Florence moved to California and lived with her son Ted. Ted had grown up in Clarkdale, was in the Boy Scouts, and graduated from Clarkdale High School in 1922 (the school which burned in 1983). He played multiple sports and after graduation attended Stanford University where he was a noted quarter-miler in track. He married Catherine Mooney, his high school sweetheart in 1927 in Clarkdale. After their marriage, they settled in San Carlos, California, where he worked as an accountant. The family moved to Escondido, CA, in 1946, where Ted was the business manager for the Escondido School District.

contributed by Cindy Emmett

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By the 1890's, the United States focus of conquest in the West was over and the government in Washington had depleted the funding for reservations. Many established Reserves quit operating and Indian people were simply allowed to leave.

That was the case at San Carlos, which remained an official reservation, but there was no longer military authority to enforce who came and went.  When people realized that they could leave, a lot of them did just that. Families and individuals began the long walks back to their home county in Payson, Camp Verde, Red Rock Country, Flagstaff, Prescott, Wickenburg and Clarkdale. The people took years to make it home, stopping along the way to work on a road or dam project, to have a new baby, or to tend to an old person being sick. One way or another, many made it back to where they or their parents had lived before the forced Exodus. But when they came back into their old homelands, they were in for a shock. All the best land and springs were spoken for and instead of returning to their own lands, the people were pushed to the margins and treated poorly. They were forced to make the best of a bad situation, but at least they were "home". By 1905, dozens of Yavapai and Dilzhe'e families were living in the nooks and crannies. These people had no official place to go and were considered squatters, even though most were working at the smelter, on building roads, on the Fossil Creek flume, in local mines, at the dam at Roosevelt, or as maids, laundresses, or cooks. Around 1906, the government appointed a school superintendent to oversee the welfare of the "Camp Verde Apaches", which meant all the Indians in the Verde Valley, Yavapai and Dilzhe'e alike. By 1910, Indian children began to attend Indian schools. The photo shows the first Indian school in Clarkdale. In the late 1920's, Yavapai and Apache children were allowed to enter public schools everywhere except Camp Verde where Indian children were not allowed to attend the public school. They were sent to either Phoenix Indian School or a boarding school out of state. This caused legal wrangling that went on for many years until 1943. Often times, families would move to Cottonwood or Clarkdale to make sure their children could stay at home.

contributed by Cindy Emmett an exerpt from  A Short History of the Yavapi-Apache Nation by Vincent Randall, Chrostopher Coder, and Gertrude Smith.

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 It's tough to grow up in the wilderness without services of any kind or out of a phone's reach. Such was the case for the Alvarez family at the turn of the last century when the United Verde Copper Company was digging deeper and the roads weren't paved. 

Sycamore Canyon was way off the beaten path. There was no running water at the family homestead, no electricity and only outside toilets. The Alvarez family had settled along the Verde River even before the United Verde & Pacific Railroad blazed through the Prescott Forest from Drake to Clarkdale.  Little remains of the Alvarez ranch today, only vacant mud and wooden debris.  On the Verde Canyon Railroad tour, the historic Alvarez Ranch is pointed out for passengers as the train goes by.  Rosendo and Julia originally settled for a time in Clifton coming from Mexico, then moved on to Jerome. He was a miner but heard of a homesteading claim along the Verde composed of 60.5 acres.  In 1908 Rosendo petitioned to take over the homestead and they farmed the land, planted fruit trees, raised 40 heads of cattle, chickens, and turkeys, and built small buildings of mud and railroad ties. A close alliance was forged between the Alvarez Ranch and the train. Though the family mainly used mules and wagons to carry goods to and from Clarkdale, the train would stop at the ranch and 25 cents would buy passage to town.  Rosendo died of pneumonia in 1925.  The ranch remained in family hands and kept producing until after Julia's death 40 years later in 1964. Their son Domingo continued to work the land until 1997. 

submitted by Cindy Emmett

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Perhaps one of the most loved Clarkdale families, John and Bette Bell, came to Clarkdale in 1960. They joined with Bill and Lois Cameron at the Verde Independent.

John was a newspaperman.......a typographer and shop foreman most of his life. They had three children who attended Clarkdale schools and graduated from Mingus Union High School.  After leaving the newspaper in 1970, John and Bette opened a store on Main Street next to the Newstand called Bell Photo and Furniture. Thanks to him, we have a photographic library of amazing photos of Clarkdale's history after the smelter closed in 1952. They were both part of the Clarkdale Restoration Commission established in 1983.  They and others had watched the abandoned town slowly deteriorate and decided to do something about it by raising funds to restore the Clark Memorial Clubhouse. The Jerome Light Opera Company was formed to present plays and operettas in the auditorium, raising enough money to repair the roof, replacing the carpet in the Ladies Lounge by duplicating it, replacing the curtains in both the Ladies Lounge and the auditorium, and replacing the stage curtains (no small task) all duplicating the 1927 original design. Because of John's love for the area, John became an amateur historian of the Verde Valley. The last years of his life he worked at the Verde Canyon Railroad as a host and narrator.  John died in 1998, and Bette died in 2003.  The Verde Canyon Train has a boxcar named "The John Bell Museum". Upon his death, he left his entire collection to the Verde Canyon Railroad.

Submitted by Cindy Emmett

Photo courtesy of the Cranmer Collection

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 This list of rules and regulations were posted in each residence and monthly inspections of all properties were made by a representative of UVCC.  

Early planning for land acquisition and the siting of the smelter by UVCC (United Verde Copper Company) was done quietly. When William Andrews Clark visited Jerome in the early days, he went on trips to the fertile valley 1500 feet below the mines. He and his advisors then began acquiring property in the Upper Verde. Many properties near the Verde River and in the immediate foothills surrounding Jerome were to come under the control of the UVCC. In 1911 and 1912 the Company bought land and water rights from Walter Jordan, J.J. Humbert, D. J Shea, F. Petchauer, Torrizano, Ames, Fisher, and others. In 1913, the United Verde transferred almost 1200 acres of land to a subsidiary called the Clarkdale Improvement Company. This land included the townsite for Clarkdale and adjoining property. The Improvement Company continued to build and maintain all the buildings in the town and all the utilities necessary for the smelter and community. Ranches and farms bought by UVCC were controlled by the Upper Verde Farm and Orchard Company run by Walter Jordan.  A prominent resident of Jerome was hired to oversee the Upper Verde Farm and Orchard Co., the Clarkdale Improvement Co., and the Upper Verde Public Utility Co. which handled the water, sewer, light and power.  With the prospect of growth and opportunity provided by the standard gauge Verde Valley Railroad and the building of the smelter, the residents became excited. However, the negative effects of the new smelter would have some effect on the land in the valley. Clark purposely designed the 400 ft steel stack to "belch out fumes at least 1000 feet higher and will not affect the orchards." A shrewd businessman, Clark also bought up most of the farms and orchards in the immediate area as part of his plan. The UVCC eventually built a total of 560 dwellings and homes and two hotels for its employees in Clarkdale alone. A well-housed, well-maintained home, and a contented employee was an asset to the company. The program was implemented to furnish living quarters at rental rates commensurate with wages. The Company required all premises and yards be kept clean and green by providing 15,000 gallons of water per month during the summer. 

Contributed by Cindy Emmett

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