Jerome Water Supply System, Jerome

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-91. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Jerome Water Supply System is an example of an early twentieth- century water supply system established for a mining town in an arid region. It was similar to other municipal systems in the Southwest that collected water by pipeline from springs located above town. Description: The original water works system for Jerome, built about took water from a series of springs in the mountains above the town. In the furthest spring was 7 miles away. The water was conducted to the town in a pipeline made of riveted steel in the shops of the United Verde Company, the owner of the copper mining interests in the town. The pipeline led to a series of wooden tanks on the side of the mountain. Water was distributed by gravity to consumers and mining operations below. Very little of the ca.

water supply system is extant. Original riveted- steel pipe may be seen along U.S. Highway 89 Alternative about 2 miles southwest of Jerome. The pipe is above the present road and then crosses under it to an old flume that carries the pipe across a gulch. Wooden storage tanks located above the town on the side of the mountain have been replaced by steel water tanks. History: The mining operations in what would become Jerome began in earnest in when two water-jacket smelters were installed to recover copper ore from the nearby mines. The location on the northeastern slope of the Mingus Mountain was over one of the richest deposits of copper ore in the Southwest.

It is not known exactly what the water supply of the town was at this time, but it is assumed to have come from the mountain springs above the town that were later used as the source for the water works. It is likely that water was hauled to the town by water wagons. JEROME WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM HAER No. AZ-91 (Page 2) The town of Jerome was established in Once among the largest of mining towns, Jerome was Arizona s fifth largest city around the turn of the century. About the United Verde Corporation, the owners of the mines and smelting operations, built what was probably the first real water works in the town. This system secured water from up to 7 miles away from mountain springs and supplied the mining and smelting operations, along with the usual domestic needs of the community.

The gravity system was comprised of riveted-steel pipes said to have been made in Jerome at the United Verde Corporation s shops. The water was held in a series of wooden reservoirs above the town on the mountainside. This water supply system was similar to other municipal systems in the Southwest that collected water by pipeline from springs located above the town. The system was used for both municipal and mining purposes until mining operations were discontinued in It is not known when this system was abandoned or exactly what portions of it are still being used in the current system.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-91. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Brewer, James W., Jr. Jerome. Globe, AZ: Southwestern Monuments Association, The McGraw Waterworks Directory New York: McGraw Publishing Company, Inc., McMillan, John E., Agent, Phelps Dodge Corporation, Jerome, Arizona. Interview by field team, August 3, Sherman, James E. and Barbara H. Ghost Towns of Arizona. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, Historians: T. Lindsay Baker and Steve Rae, August 3 and October 23,

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-91. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Jerome Water Supply System was inventoried for the Historic American Engineering Record as part of the Southwest Water Resources Project, a joint project with the Texas Tech Water Resources Center. The survey was subsequently published as Water for the Southwest: Historical Survey and Guide to Historic Sites by the American Society of Civil Engineers in September