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Cody's Jerome Arizona Studio and Gallery
Cody's Studio is located within the Merchants Gathering, 300 Hull Ave. suite 1, in Jerome Arizona. Cody will be painting and teaching in the studio three to four days a week on average, usually Thursday through Sunday except when he's out of town teaching a workshop or competing in a plein-air event.
The Merchants Gathering is located in uptown Jerome, next to the Jerome Chamber of Commerce booth. It's easy to find, just look for the old gas pump in front of the building.
The History of the Building:
It was built in 1905 by the Dicus family as the area Studebaker and Marmon dealership. The building is 12 inch poured concrete including the roof. Slag from the mine was used as aggregate for the cement. Built into the walls are tubes about 8 inches square. They run from the lower floor (just below floor level) to the upper floor (just above floor level) and provide the building with a natural air circulation and cooling. The upper floor was the showroom and offices. The lower floor was maintenance and repair. The building was lighted by natural gas lights. When Northland Proprties Inc. took over the building, it was restored to as close to original as possible and is on the National Historic Building Registry. The gas lights remained in the building and were fully functional until the last renovation of the upper floor in 2008, when building, fire and safety regulations required their removal.
In the back of the building, under the slab that is there now, was an oil change pit. Large mining trucks could drive over the pit and the mechanics could stand beneath the vehicles to do their work. When Northland Properties took over the building in 1974 a portion of the pit had caved into one of the mine shafts that honeycomb the entire underground of Jerome. A total of 47 crushed cars and trucks, along with tons of compacted dirt, was required to fill the cavity to create a firm stable foundation for the slab that now covers the area.
The upper floor had collapsed into the lower floor. Most of the floor is original, so some of the stains on it could, in fact, be Model A or Studebaker oil. The building itself had been vandalized and most of the valuables stolen by locals. Several antique tools and a Model T gear shift were recovered from under the collapsed floor; Northland Properties Inc. still has them in their office. After repeated replacement of the glass windows from vandalism, the bars were added to the building at some time during the renovations to prevent the continued vandalism and theft of materials and building supplies.
It was operated as an antique shop from the time Northland Properties Inc. completed renovations until April of 2007. It has appeared in several travel magazines and was featured on the cover of Route 66. The gas pump out front is one of the three originals that serviced the patrons of the dealership.
There are stories of a couple of friendly ghosts who appear in the building from time to time, and the overall atmoshphere is warm and firendly, as the shop keepers and guests will attest to.
History of Jerome: (Thank You Wikipedia for content)
The presence of silver and copper has been known in the area around
what is now Jerome since the Spanish colonial era when Arizona was part
of
Mining
A stream, stained turquoise-blue, emerges from a spoil pipe of copper ore.Jerome became a notorious "
In 1915 the population of Jerome was estimated at 2,500.
Starting in May 1917 there was a series of miners strikes, in part
organized by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). On 10 July of
that year armed agents of the mine owners roughly rounded up all the
labor union organizers and unionized miners on to
This event would ultimately serve as a prelude to the larger and more well-known Bisbee Deportation.
United Verde Extension
In 1914, an exploration drift cut bonanza copper ore in
Ironically, Douglas's theory was all wet: in later geological studies, the UVX turned out to be a completely separate
Jerome Fires Jerome had three major fires between 1897 and 1899, burning out much of the town. The 1899 fire prompted Jerome to reincorporate as a city, and to adopt a building code specifying brick or masonry construction, as well as improving the fire companies. Despite these changes, the large and luxurious Montana Hotel, built of brick, burned in 1915.
In 1918 fires spread out of control over 22 miles of underground
mines, burning the inflammable massive pyrite. One of the mine fires
continued to burn for twenty years. This prompted the phasing out of
underground mining in favor of open pit mining at the United Verde.
By 1929 Jerome's population was over 15,000. Arizona had become the nation's leading copper-producer.
Mining decline and closure
The United Verde and Jerome prospered in the war years, but the end was now in sight. Phelps Dodge closed the Clarkdale smelter in 1950. In 1953 the last of Jerome's mines closed, and much of the population left town. Jerome's population reached a low point of about 50 people in the late 1950s.
In 1967 Jerome was designated a Historic District, and a National Historic Landmark in 1976, known as Jerome Historic District.
Modern Jerome: tourism and art
Today Jerome is a tourist destination, with many abandoned and refurbished buildings from its boom town days. Jerome has a large mining museum, presenting the town history, labor-management disputes, geological structure models, mineral samples, and equipment used in both underground and open-pit mining. The National Historic Landmark designation has assured architectural preservation in this town, a mile high on the side of Mingus Mountain.
California folk-singer Kate Wolf wrote the song "Old Jerome" after visiting the town. In 1987 the town council adopted it as their official town song. The community spirit in this town of 400 has created a vibrant group of events from its Halloweeen Dance to the Jerome Home Tour in May. This is the oldest yearly Home Tour in the state of Arizona.ArtWalk
Jerome is known as an art destination, with more than 30 galleries and working studios. First Saturday Art Walk began in 2006, and has become a popular monthly event. In 2007, Jerome became a sponsor of The Sedona Plein Air Festival, and hosted some of the best-known plein air painters in the country, including local artist Cody DeLong.