The Valley Ghost Towns
The nearby town of Jerome has made a living out of being, arguably, Arizona’s most famous ghost town. But at least six other communities, once large enough to warrant a post office, no longer exist. Cienega and Rutherford, both south of Camp Verde, Aultman, on the road to Cottonwood, Montezuma, located at Montezuma Well, Verde/Clemanceau, which was absorbed into Cottonwood and Equartor Macdonald, below Jerome, are among 275 communities in Arizona that disappeared from the territorial landscape.
The remaining towns, the ones that didn’t vanish, have their own Ghost Stories to tell. From ancient Native American stories to tales of the Old West, there is a lot to unearth in these small towns.