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Newspaper Jerome Mining News (Jerome, Yavapai County, Ariz.) 1897-1906

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About Jerome Mining News (Jerome, Yavapai County, Ariz.) 1897-1906

Perched almost a mile above the Verde Valley in Arizona, Jerome was incorporated in 1899 but had been home to an active copper mining camp since the 1880s and one of the largest producers of copper in the world. Once known as the “wickedest town” (New-York Tribune, September 15, 1898), Jerome saw publication of the weekly Arizona Mining News beginning in September 1895, just three months after the town’s first newspaper, the Jerome Chronicle folded. The Mining News was started by George McFarlin and William S. Adams, though McFarlin left the newspaper before the year was out. By the end of October 1897, the newspaper’s title changed to Jerome Mining News.

Focused heavily on all aspects of mining, the Mining News reported on the United Verde Copper Company, and for a time, the newspaper’s masthead incorporated a drawing of United Verde’s copper smelter. In the paper, Adams strongly advocated for the formation of an Arizona miners’ association, even appealing to the Arizona territorial governor for support. The News included patent and mining applications and maps of the mining districts in and around Jerome, but it also published railroad timetables, city and county news, and personal news about community members. The pages carried many advertisements for Jerome businesses, including the Grand View Hotel and The St. Elmo, where one could find “polite and attentive mixologists” (January 29, 1898).

In the 1890s, Jerome was devastated by several fires, including one in 1898 that consumed the printing plant and offices of the News, briefly impacting publication of the newspaper. In March 1906, “mining” was dropped from the newspaper’s main title, becoming Jerome News. Initially four pages, the newspaper expanded to eight pages in late 1910, adding serialized fiction, more advertisements, and national and international news, though mining continued to be the main focus.

In 1909, the Jerome News printed several xenophobic editorials and columns about the local Chinese community and declared the newspaper’s support for Chinese exclusion laws. Adams’ attacks in the paper were particularly directed at Charley Hong, a Chinese resident of Jerome. Laura Nihell, editor of the Jerome Copper Belt, defended Hong in the Copper Belt, and a journalistic feud erupted between the two newspapers.  A few years later, in 1912, Adams purchased the Copper Belt, and it was absorbed into the News, now retitled Jerome News and Copper Belt.

By the end of 1912, the newspaper had shrunk back? to four pages. In January 1914, Adams sold the paper to W. H. Archdeacon. A month later, William E. Nicoll purchased the paper, and with the March 7, 1914 issue, the newspaper title changed back to Jerome News. In May 1914, Ned Creighton became owner, then sold the newspaper to Ernest Douglas in 1916, with the Jerome News ceasing publication in 1917. Douglas reconstituted the newspaper as Verde Copper News, which changed hands a few times before suspending publication in 1935.

Research provided by the University of Arizona Libraries.

Provided By: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Jerome Mining News (Jerome, Yavapai County, Ariz.) 1897-1906

Dates of Publication

  • 1897-1906

Created / Published

  • Jerome, Yavapai County, Ariz. : W.S. Adams, 1897-1906.

Headings

  • -  Mines and mineral resources--Arizona--Newspapers
  • -  Jerome (Ariz.)--Newspapers
  • -  Yavapai County (Ariz.)--Newspapers
  • -  Mines and mineral resources
  • -  Arizona
  • -  Arizona--Jerome
  • -  Arizona--Yavapai County
  • -  United States--Arizona--Yavapai--Jerome

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 3, no. 8 (Oct. 30, 1897)-11th yr., no. 23 (Mar. 3, 1906).
  • -  Jerome news (Jerome, Ariz. : 1906) (DLC)sn 96060501 (OCoLC)34580727

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn94052354

OCLC Number

  • 30559766

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

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Availability

Rights & Access

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Jerome Mining News Jerome, Yavapai County, Ariz. -1906. (Jerome, AZ), Jan. 1 1897. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn94052354/.

APA citation style:

(1897, January 1) Jerome Mining News Jerome, Yavapai County, Ariz. -1906. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn94052354/.

MLA citation style:

Jerome Mining News Jerome, Yavapai County, Ariz. -1906. (Jerome, AZ) 1 Jan. 1897. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn94052354/.