Jerome was once a thriving mining town of nearly 15,000 people, billed as "The Wickedest Town in the West". Jerome was founded in 1876 as a mining camp. By 1899, it had grown into a thriving mining town, had 4 disastrous fires, destroying large sections of the town, and incorporated into a town. At one time Jerome was the 4th largest city in the Arizona Territory, having a population of 15,000 in the 1920's. When the last of the copper mines closed in the early 1950's, the town dwindled to nearly 50 people. The hardy souls that were left created a Historical Society and promoted the town as a historic ghost town. In 1967, the U. S. Congress designated the Town of Jerome as a National Historic District. Today Jerome is a thriving artist community and tourist destination with a population of about 450 people, making it a wonderful destination for shopping, sightseeing, and beating the heat.