After The Boom In Tombstone And Jerome, Arizona: Decline In Western Resource Towns
by Eric L. Clements
University of Nevada Press, 2014 Paper: 978-0-87417-958-3 | Cloth: 978-0-87417-571-4 | eISBN: 978-0-87417-581-3 Library of Congress Classification F819.T6C5 2003 Dewey Decimal Classification 979.153
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Focusing on two Arizona towns that had their origins in mining bonanzas—Tombstone and Jerome—historian Eric L. Clements offers a rare study dissecting the process of bust itself—the reasons and manners in which these towns declined as the mining booms ended. Tombstone was the site of one of the great silver bonanzas of the nineteenth century, a boom that started in the late 1870s and was over by 1890. Jerome’s copper deposits were mined for much longer, beginning in the 1880s and enduring until the 1930s. But when the mining booms ended, each town faced its decline in similar ways. The process of decline was more complex than superficial histories have indicated, and Clements discusses the role of labor unions in trying to stave off collapse, the changing demography of decline, the nature and expression of social tensions, the impact on institutions such as churches and schools, and the human responses to continued economic depression. But bust involved more than a steady decline into ghost-town status, Clements discovers: the towns' remaining residents employed numerous strategies to survive and reduce household expenses. In the end, both towns reinvented themselves as late-twentieth-century tourist attractions.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Eric L. Clements is an associate professor of history at Southeast Missouri State University and editor of the Mining History Journal. His areas of interest include both the mining and maritime history of the American West. He has published articles and given presentations on mine health and safety reform, the Western Federation of Miners, the nature and meanings of ghost towns, and the social and physical consequences of legalized casino gambling in three former mining towns in Colorado.
REVIEWS
“Clements addresses his question, ‘What happens after the boom,’ with detail and affection. The result is an inclusive and informative portrait of two western resource towns that outlived their resources.” —Journal of Arizona History
“Clements writes with flair and has a penchant for working authentic bits of rustic western vernacular into his text.” —Journal of American History
“By consciously choosing and carefully researching a subject that has received little attention from historians, Clements has made an important contribution to the literature.” —Utah Historical Quarterly
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Illustrations xi
Introduction 1
Chapter One
Future Growth and Prosperity Is Assured @@@
Chapter Two
Apartments or Houses Are Impossible to Obtain @@@
Chapter Three
This Ill-Omened City @@@
Chapter Four
Employment by Mines Practically Nil @@@
Chapter Five
The Drawbacks Incident to Mining @@@
Chapter Six
Owing to the Dullness of Trade @@@
Chapter Seven
Two Chinese, an Irishman, a Frenchman, and a Negro @@@
Chapter Eight
The Painful Necessity of Closing the Church @@@
Chapter Nine
As Tombstone Has Empty Houses to Burn @@@
Chapter Ten
Due Economy in Town Administration @@@
Chapter Eleven
Our Last Dollar on a Sure Thing @@@
Chapter Tweleve
But a Monument to the Glories of the Past? @@@
Notes @@@
Bibliography @@@
Index @@@
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Tombstone (Ariz, ) History, Jerome (Ariz, ) History, Tombstone (Ariz, ) Economic conditions, Jerome (Ariz, ) Economic conditions, Frontier and pioneer life Arizona Tombstone, Frontier and pioneer life Arizona Jerome, Company towns Arizona Case studies, Resource-based communities Arizona Case studies, Tourism Arizona Tombstone History, Tourism Arizona Jerome History
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After The Boom In Tombstone And Jerome, Arizona: Decline In Western Resource Towns
by Eric L. Clements
University of Nevada Press, 2014 Paper: 978-0-87417-958-3 Cloth: 978-0-87417-571-4 eISBN: 978-0-87417-581-3
Focusing on two Arizona towns that had their origins in mining bonanzas—Tombstone and Jerome—historian Eric L. Clements offers a rare study dissecting the process of bust itself—the reasons and manners in which these towns declined as the mining booms ended. Tombstone was the site of one of the great silver bonanzas of the nineteenth century, a boom that started in the late 1870s and was over by 1890. Jerome’s copper deposits were mined for much longer, beginning in the 1880s and enduring until the 1930s. But when the mining booms ended, each town faced its decline in similar ways. The process of decline was more complex than superficial histories have indicated, and Clements discusses the role of labor unions in trying to stave off collapse, the changing demography of decline, the nature and expression of social tensions, the impact on institutions such as churches and schools, and the human responses to continued economic depression. But bust involved more than a steady decline into ghost-town status, Clements discovers: the towns' remaining residents employed numerous strategies to survive and reduce household expenses. In the end, both towns reinvented themselves as late-twentieth-century tourist attractions.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Eric L. Clements is an associate professor of history at Southeast Missouri State University and editor of the Mining History Journal. His areas of interest include both the mining and maritime history of the American West. He has published articles and given presentations on mine health and safety reform, the Western Federation of Miners, the nature and meanings of ghost towns, and the social and physical consequences of legalized casino gambling in three former mining towns in Colorado.
REVIEWS
“Clements addresses his question, ‘What happens after the boom,’ with detail and affection. The result is an inclusive and informative portrait of two western resource towns that outlived their resources.” —Journal of Arizona History
“Clements writes with flair and has a penchant for working authentic bits of rustic western vernacular into his text.” —Journal of American History
“By consciously choosing and carefully researching a subject that has received little attention from historians, Clements has made an important contribution to the literature.” —Utah Historical Quarterly
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Illustrations xi
Introduction 1
Chapter One
Future Growth and Prosperity Is Assured @@@
Chapter Two
Apartments or Houses Are Impossible to Obtain @@@
Chapter Three
This Ill-Omened City @@@
Chapter Four
Employment by Mines Practically Nil @@@
Chapter Five
The Drawbacks Incident to Mining @@@
Chapter Six
Owing to the Dullness of Trade @@@
Chapter Seven
Two Chinese, an Irishman, a Frenchman, and a Negro @@@
Chapter Eight
The Painful Necessity of Closing the Church @@@
Chapter Nine
As Tombstone Has Empty Houses to Burn @@@
Chapter Ten
Due Economy in Town Administration @@@
Chapter Eleven
Our Last Dollar on a Sure Thing @@@
Chapter Tweleve
But a Monument to the Glories of the Past? @@@
Notes @@@
Bibliography @@@
Index @@@
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Tombstone (Ariz, ) History, Jerome (Ariz, ) History, Tombstone (Ariz, ) Economic conditions, Jerome (Ariz, ) Economic conditions, Frontier and pioneer life Arizona Tombstone, Frontier and pioneer life Arizona Jerome, Company towns Arizona Case studies, Resource-based communities Arizona Case studies, Tourism Arizona Tombstone History, Tourism Arizona Jerome History
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE