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Spirit Room Bar 166 Main Street P.O. Box 155 Jerome, AZ 86331 928-634-8809 |
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History |
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The history of "Connor's Corner" began in the late 1880s when Dave Connor built the Stone Saloon. Because mining towns were not known for their permanency, people thought Connor was crazy to build this building out of stone instead of the usual wood and canvas structures that were far more common at that time. |
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Connor's Corner was to burn six times in the coming years, always to be rebuilt with Connor's ingenuity and insurance money. The stone building and later the brick hotel were credited more than once with saving the town from the fire menace.
The three story brick hotel built in 1897 was completely consumed by fire in
September 1898. The building known today as the Connor Hotel was
completed in 1899. Originally the doors and windows on the ground
floor were arched, but when the hotel was closed for repairs in 1919, they
were changed. There were plans to add a third story, but it never
happened.
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The corner space where the Spirit Room is today has been many things over the years. After the Stone Saloon, it became the Connor Cafe, one of the finest eating establishments in the territory. John Keller ran the cafe from 1914 to 1919, when he gave up the lease because Dave Connor's son John Francis refused to sell him the building. |
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The Connor Cafe was run by several different women until 1928 when Harry Parker took over the running of the hotel. He ran a soda fountain, bus stop, and Western Union office from this space until it was leased out as a jewelry and Mexican import store in the late 1940s.
After the mine closed in 1953, George and Jean Verdugo opened George and Jean's Cigar Store on this site which became a favorite spot for refreshments and socializing. They sold the building to Carrie and Rance Madonna in 1961 who renamed the bar the Spirit Room. It became the place to go for local color.
John, Fay, Terry, and Billy Watt bought the building in 1964 and started renovating the upstairs. In 1976 they opened 7 rooms upstairs for rent, and had one of the best businesses in town when Jerome came back to life. David and Robert Conlin bought the building in 1981. The hotel was completely renovated and reopened in October 2000.
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