A little bit of history..

Early History of Old Town Cottonwood

As with other communities in the Verde Valley, the City shares a rich and lengthy history. The region has long been home to Native Americans, particularly the Sinaugua and later the Yavapai and Apache. The first Anglo settlers in the area farmed and provided goods for the soldiers at Camp Verde and for the miners in Jerome beginning in the late 1870's. William Clark and Jimmy Douglas developed major smelters and the mining communities of Clarkdale (1912) and Clemenceau (1917), respectively. Clemenceau, located near the intersection of Willard Street and Mingus Avenue was a complete company town with thousands of residents, a school and other community facilities. Today, few people recognize the size and complexity of the original "Smelter City".

Old Town Cottonwood became a haven for those seeking to be free from the prejudice and regulation of nearby company towns. Main Street was created 1908 when Charles Stemmer and Alonzo Mason used a mule team to pull and drag through brush. The Mason Addition, Willard Addition, Hopkins Ranch No. 2 and other tracts were platted during the next decade coinciding with the development of Clemenceau on higher ground about one mile to the south.

The Clemenceau smelter closed on December 31, 1936 with a great loss of jobs and disruption to the area's economy. The Cottonwood Women's Club organized to feed those in need and raised money to build the Cottonwood Civic Center (1939) with labor provided through the Works Progress Administration. The copper industry continued its decline culminating with the closure of the Phelps Dodge operation in the 1950's. Population plummeted in the region as the mining industry declined. Jerome's population declined from about 8,000 to nearly 0, while Clarkdale went from nearly 4,000 to several hundred.

The following was transcribed from a taped interview with Betty Dickinson Kent, January 11, 1976

BETTY DICKINSON KENT: "Oh I knew Charles Stemmer very, very well. He was my next door neighbor. And I- he and his wife Bessie were very, very good friends. People that I spent a lot of time talking to, visiting with. In fact I worked for Charles Stemmer. I worked for the Cottonwood Post Office for a short while. And enjoyed it tremendously. He was a- as you probably know from your reading, he was a very heavy believer in reincarnation. He was the first person who ever told me what it was about. And he and Bessie had had some rather amazing stories to tell. And if you read his book and read the story of his life, you'll also know he had a rather hard life. And he received his appointment from Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I believe, as postmaster in Cottonwood. And that was one of the big things he had hung in his front room, signed. He'd retired, he was, you know when he quit his job, he was retired, and it was a big thing for him to have been recognized by a president. Of course, I even had a letter from Herbert Hoover one time, so, a nice one, but I remember Charlie, Charles, he told me one of those previous reincarnations he'd been a pirate off Madagascar. And things he'd tell you, you know he was fascinating person to be around. And I really enjoyed him."

Our staff at the Rock Café is mighty glad Charlie Stemmer and his friend brought that team of mules down through the brush and made Main Street! We love being a part of the history of Old Town Cottonwood and bringing a piece of the "Old World" to our growing community. If you have never tasted Greek or Lebanese food, or experienced the thrill of watching the old, old art of belly-dancing, you've missed one of life's great pleasures. Don't wait for one of Charlie's reincarnations--join us soon.