Abandoned Towns

Living community · Yavapai County, Arizona

Clarkdale

William A. Clark's company smelter town of 1912, below Jerome in the Verde Valley, now a town of retirees, a cement plant and a scenic railroad.

34°46′20″N 112°03′23″W
Living community

Clarkdale is a living town of 4,424 people (2020 census), not a ghost town. It lost most of its people when the copper smelter closed in 1950, but it incorporated in 1957 and has grown since 1960.

The label

Why Clarkdale is called a ghost town

Clarkdale is on ghost town lists because of what it was. A long-running ghost town directory lists it beside Jerome, the mining town 5 miles up the mountain whose ore its smelter treated. The directory itself says Clarkdale has many residents and a modern look; what it points to as ghostly is Patio Town, a largely Hispanic neighborhood of smelter workers whose buildings were abandoned, leaving a few small foundations. The town's numbers tell the same story of a lost boom: 5,526 people in 1930, 1,095 in 1960, after the smelter's furnaces went cold. Wikipedia's list of ghost towns in Arizona does not include Clarkdale, though its article names Drake and Perkinsville, at the far end of the Verde Canyon Railroad's run, as nearby places that did become ghost towns.

History

Clarkdale then

William A. Clark, owner of the United Verde mine in Jerome, founded Clarkdale in 1912 as a company town for a new smelter to replace the old one in Jerome. The smelter was built between 1912 and 1915, and its first furnace was blown in on May 26, 1915, under a 400-foot steel stack; a 430-foot brick stack followed in 1922. Clark had the town laid out as a planned community, with a public square and the Clark Memorial Clubhouse. In the peak year of 1929 the smelter handled 1.75 million tons of ore.

The mine and smelter shut down in 1931 when copper prices collapsed, reopened in 1935, and were sold that year to Phelps Dodge. The furnaces shut down in 1950, by the 2001 smelter marker; the town's visitor site and Wikipedia give 1951 and 1953 for the end of the mine and smelter. Many residents followed Phelps Dodge to other Arizona mines. Clarkdale incorporated in 1957, and the Phoenix Cement plant, built in 1959 to supply Glen Canyon Dam, gave it a new employer. Empty smelter homes were sold to retirees and cement workers.

1912. William A. Clark founds Clarkdale as a company town for the United Verde smelter.

1915. The smelter's first furnace is blown in on May 26.

1922. A Cottrell plant with a 430-foot brick stack is added.

1929. Peak year: the smelter handles 1.75 million tons of ore.

1930. Census: 5,526.

1931. The mine and smelter shut down as copper prices fall.

1935. Work resumes and Phelps Dodge buys the plant.

1950. The furnaces shut down (the smelter marker; other sources say 1951 or 1953).

1957. Clarkdale incorporates as a town.

1959. The Phoenix Cement plant is built.

1960. Census: 1,095.

1998. The Clarkdale Historic District is listed on the National Register (January 8).

2001. The town dedicates a marker to the smelter (April 21).

2020. Census: 4,424.

Today

What is there now

Main Street in the Clarkdale Historic District, February 2018
Main Street in the Clarkdale Historic District, February 2018 · Photo: Marine 69-71, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Clarkdale is an incorporated town of 4,424 people at the 2020 census, with a K-8 school shared with Jerome, a Yavapai College campus and a cement plant run by the Salt River Materials Group, its only major industry. Its company-town core is the Clarkdale Historic District, listed on the National Register on January 8, 1998, and the town's visitor site counts about 4,500 residents today.

Visitors come for the Verde Canyon Railroad, which leaves its depot at 300 N. Broadway on a four-hour round trip up the canyon to Perkinsville. In the historic center are the Clark Memorial Clubhouse, the brick storefronts of Main Street and the 2001 smelter marker. A visit video posted July 25, 2026 shows the Arizona Copper Art Museum on Main Street and the Clarkdale Historical Society and Museum at 900 First North Street open to visitors, and Tuzigoot National Monument is between Clarkdale and Cottonwood. Homes are private, and the railroad yard is posted private property.

Video

A walk through the company town

A YouTuber walks Clarkdale's Main Street past brick storefronts, a brewery and the Arizona Copper Art Museum at 849 Main Street, stops at the Verde River, and tours the Clarkdale Historical Society and Museum at 900 First North Street, marked open, whose volunteers show him its exhibits. He also visits the bandstand at 1001 Main Street, the Clarkdale Lodge and the ruins at nearby Tuzigoot National Monument. The narration says the smelter closed in the 1950s; the 2001 smelter marker gives 1950 for the furnaces.

Play “Clarkdale Arizona | The Hidden Copper Mining Town of Arizona” from YouTube
“Clarkdale Arizona | The Hidden Copper Mining Town of Arizona”, by Day adventures with Gasper on YouTube. The player loads from YouTube when you press play.

Historic maps

Clarkdale on USGS maps, 1905–1981

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the map point. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Clarkdale, 1905
Jerome sheet, 1905, 1:125,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Clarkdale is 4.2 miles northwest of Cottonwood on Historic 89A, which runs through town as Broadway and Main Street. From Phoenix, take I-17 north and AZ 260 to Cottonwood. Both routes end at the Clark Memorial Clubhouse on North 9th Street.

USGS topographic map of Clarkdale and Cottonwood in the Verde Valley, with routes drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL). Times assume dry roads.

From Main Street, Cottonwood4.2 miabout 8 min
  1. From Cottonwood, follow Main Street (Historic 89A) north through the roundabout.2.2 mi
  2. Continue on Historic 89A as South Broadway, then Main Street, into Clarkdale.1.8 mi
  3. Turn right on North 9th Street to the Clark Memorial Clubhouse.0.2 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and visiting notes

  • Homes in Clarkdale are private property.
  • The Verde Canyon Railroad yard is posted private property; board at the depot.

Photos

Clarkdale in photos

Questions

Common questions

Is Clarkdale, Arizona a ghost town?

No. It is an incorporated town of 4,424 people (2020 census). It shrank to 1,095 in 1960 after the smelter closed, and has grown since.

Why is Clarkdale called a ghost town?

It was a company smelter town that lost most of its people when the furnaces shut down in 1950, and its Patio Town neighborhood was abandoned. Ghost town directories list it beside Jerome.

What is there to see in Clarkdale?

The historic district and Clark Memorial Clubhouse, the smelter marker and old smelter buildings, the Verde Canyon Railroad to Perkinsville, and Tuzigoot National Monument nearby. Homes are private.

Nearby

Ghost towns and sites near Clarkdale

Straight-line distance to other mapped sites in our Arizona index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. Wikipedia, "Clarkdale, Arizona", read October 29, 2026: the 1912 founding by William A. Clark, the 1957 incorporation, the 1959 cement plant and Glen Canyon Dam, census counts 1930-2020, the school, college and cement plant, Drake and Perkinsville, Tuzigoot, the GNIS point.
  2. Wikipedia, "Clarkdale Historic District", read October 29, 2026: the National Register listing of January 8, 1998 (97001586).
  3. Wikipedia, "List of ghost towns in Arizona", read October 29, 2026: Clarkdale is not listed.
  4. ghosttowns.com, "Clarkdale", read October 29, 2026: the ghost town listing, the many residents and modern look, Patio Town, 5 miles from Jerome.
  5. Experience Clarkdale, "History of Clarkdale", read October 29, 2026: the model company town, the 1931 shutdown, the 1935 reopening and sale to Phelps Dodge, the 1951 closing, the 1957 incorporation, homes sold to retirees and cement workers, about 4,500 residents.
  6. United Verde Copper Company Smelter marker, dedicated April 21, 2001 (photo August 3, 2019, Wikimedia Commons): construction 1912-1915, the first furnace on May 26, 1915, the two stacks, the 1929 peak, the 1935 sale and the 1950 shutdown.
  7. Verde Canyon Railroad, read October 29, 2026: the depot at 300 N. Broadway and the four-hour trip to Perkinsville.
  8. USGS topographic maps: Jerome 1:125,000 (1905), Clarkdale 1:48,000 (1944) and 1:24,000 (1973), Prescott 1:100,000 (1981).
  9. Day adventures with Gasper, "Clarkdale Arizona | The Hidden Copper Mining Town of Arizona", YouTube, posted July 25, 2026: the video on this page; Main Street, the copper art museum and the historical society museum open, the bandstand and Tuzigoot.
  10. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits