On that latter list was The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town, a former mining town where visitors can explore a handful of abandoned buildings, mining machinery, and antiques.
Jerome, Arizona's charming downtown drew me in, but The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town, a site with abandoned buildings, antiques, and automobiles, was what enticed me to stay.The entrance to The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town.
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The ghost town is dotted with old buildings. Some are original to the site, while others came from nearby towns.The exterior of an old dentist's office.
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It's only a 5-minute drive from downtown Jerome, but the abandoned mining town is technically located in the town of Haynes, Arizona.A screenshot of the town of Jerome, Arizona, and the location of The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town.
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I knew I was getting close to the ghost town when I spotted dozens of old abandoned vehicles. Abandoned cars on the drive to the ghost town.
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After driving up the dirt road, I arrived at the site's entrance and paid $12 for my ticket. A sign outlines the cost for visitors of the ghost town.
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I was handed a brochure with the town's history and map. A few paragraphs on Gold King Mine's past wasn't enough, so I tracked down Jay Harshman, the self-proclaimed "main guy."A view of The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town.
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Harshman told me he grew up in the region. After a stint in the corporate world, he returned to central Arizona and has worked at the ghost town for the past two years.A wood barn at The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town.
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Harshman is a jack of all trades. He tinkers with old machinery, takes care of the property's farm animals, cuts wood, restores old buildings, and shares the town's history with anyone willing to listen. A three-cylinder generator that Harshman is working to get up and running again.
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"There's a lot that we do every day, and every day is not the same," he told me. "That's why I fell in love with it."Jay Harshman shows a visitor how to pan for gold.
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Harshman said the old mining town of Haynes was active between 1890 and 1938. While gold, silver, iron, and platinum could be found in the mines, its main commodity was copper.A sign for Haynes, Arizona.
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Haynes was small, Harshman said. The average population was 300, with a height of 504 residents. On the other hand, Jerome had an average population of 2,000 and reached 15,000 people during the same period. A group of people on a balcony of the St Charles Hotel in Jerome, Arizona, circa 1895.
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As we walked through the ghost town, Harshman said the area where we stood wasn't where people lived. It was where the mining happened. A sign depicting the former entrance to a mine.
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Above us, on the side of the mountain, was where 305 structures and the town of Haynes formerly stood. Residents would have lived on the hillside in Haynes, Arizona.
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Today, The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town are filled with structures, old vehicles, machinery, and antiques, but Harshman said not all of it was original to Haynes. A former laundromat.
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A mine's elevator shaft and headframe were part of the original town, he said.Parts of the ghost town that are original to Haynes, Arizona.
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A nearby boarding house was also an original Haynes building, as are the assay office and jail bars that can be spotted in the ghost town.An abandoned house in the ghost town.
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These structures, and so many more, exist at the site today thanks to a man named Don Robertson, Harshman said.Don Robertson, the owner and founder of the historic Gold King Mine and Ghost Town.
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Robertson grew up in Iowa and came out to the West in the 1960s. According to Harshman, he fell in love with Wild West culture and started collecting things.A table of old tools Don Robertson collected.
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When Robertson had gathered too much, Harshman said he searched for a place to store his collection. A view of the Gold Mine King and Ghost Town.
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That's when he found The Gold King Mine.Don Robertson in his workshop.
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Robertson came to Haynes in 1978 and made a 100-year leasing deal with the two corporations that continue to own the land today. The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town.
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Robertson brought his belongings and, in 1982, opened it up to visitors. A handful of old automobiles at The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town site.
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"His whole purpose of revitalizing this town was to show people what kind of things people were working with and living with back in the day," Harshman said. Don Robertson at The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town in 2019.
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Beyond an automobile collection and antiques, Robertson also preserved historical buildings from nearby towns. The exterior of an old dentist's office.
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The outhouse, for example, came from Wickenburg, Arizona.The outhouse at The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town.
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Visitors can step inside a schoolhouse moved from Perkinsville, Arizona, which is filled with its original desks.The exterior of the schoolhouse.
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In another area of the ghost town is a dentist's office. Harshman said it was where Jerome's first dentists, Joseph and Raymond Pecharich, worked. Inside, the chair, equipment, and paperwork are all part of the original building. Side-by-side images of the interior of the dentist's office.
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Elsewhere, a service station was relocated from Cottonwood, Arizona, once known as Clemenceau.The old service station at The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town.
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And there is a shoe repair store from Wickenburg, Arizona. Images of the exterior and interior of the shoe repair store.
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Today, Harshman is continuing Robertson's mission by helping restore Ma's Kitchen, which was named by Robertson. Its original frame and floors were once part of a communal kitchen for miners in Haynes.The interior of Ma's Kitchen.
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Harshman took me inside, where I spotted an old pie safe, a vintage telephone, and a decades-old jar of vaporizing ointment. Two items inside Ma's Kitchen.
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As we continued to explore the property, I spotted more old automobiles and interesting antiques. The interior of the laundromat at the ghost town.
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I walked by farm ducks, said hello to friendly goats named Bonnie and Clyde, and overheard visitors amazed by the items in each building. Farm ducks at the ghost town.
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"A lot of people are cooped up in apartments or cities, especially people our age, and don't know what half this stuff does or that everything here was used for purpose," Harshman said. "Nothing is a prop."Two automobiles in the ghost town.
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I agreed. Walking through The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town felt like stepping back in time — an experience I don't often encounter in my normal city life. The author at the ghost town.