The Story
The old man had sold Thad the little gas station for cheap. After signing the paperwork, the man laughed and said something about it being his problem now.
Thad had recently bought the house up on the hill for his new bride. Investing in this place would allow him to stay close even if he was working long hours, 7 days a week.
As the hours dragged on, Thad started having some troubles. It wasn’t just his marriage, he was beginning to doubt his own sanity. At first, it was little things. A gentleman would come in and ask for a certain can of oil that hadn’t been available for 20 years. Or a woman would wander in with a pillbox hat properly fastened to her head.
But it wasn’t until the man came running in hollering about the explosion up at the Puited Verde mine that Thad knew something was really wrong. The mines around here hadn’t been active since the 50’s.
Was Thad losing his grip on reality?
The History
This is part 1 of 5 of my Historic Jerome series. This general store/gas station is located right on 89A on the Cottonwood side of Jerome.
In 1905, there was an explosion at the Puited Verde mine in Jerome. Due to excessive rains, water found it’s way to a fire that had been smoldering for several years. The resulting steam caused an explosion. Five miners had been caught inside when a bulkhead collapsed. They died from smoke inhalation and heated steam.