That Would be Mrs. Jerome, Thank You

Jerome, Arizona has a wild and wonderful history as a booming mining town in the early 1900s turned ghost town turned modern-day artist community. It’s been said that the town is named after a New York lawyer and financier named Eugene Jerome, a first cousin to Jenny Churchill—Winston’s mom. But that isn’t precisely true, according to the “Images of America” series on Jerome written by Midge Steuber and the Jerome Historical Society Archives. They report that Eugene Jerome “reportedly was not interested” in buying a mine out in Arizona Territory in what then was called the Black Hills mining camp. “However, his independent wife was delighted at the prospect and raise $200,000 in development capital. In 1882, Frederick F. Thomas, Jerome’s first postmaster, named the mining camp ‘Jerome’ in honor of the family.” The wife’s name was Paulina Von Schneidau Jerome.

The only place you’ll find any mention of Paulina—the real bankroller for the community—is in this one book. Everything else in Jerome, from its other books to its museum on Main Street, make no mention of her.

This is a mistake that should be corrected, since Jerome isn’t really named after Mr. Jerome, but after Mrs. Jerome!