b'A JEROME BAWDY HOUSE TURNED HOTELCREAKS AND CRACKS IN 1920sBy Bill Roberts Reprinted from The TravelerT HIS IS ONE MANS STORY of his experiences as a hotel and apartment house owner in Jerome in the early 1900s. His name was John M. Sullivan. He was a lawyer, mining investor and owner of the Sullivan Hotel, the Wig Wam and the Sullivan Apartments. His story, which might well be called So You Think You Got Troubles, was gleaned from his ledger which also contained a diary of incidents that occurred related to his property holdings. It is hand written and at times difficult to read. At other times, his hand becomes quite shaky, adding to the difficulty. At other times, it contains just brief references to events that he recorded with only skimpy information given. Yet it tells a story. It appears that J. M. Sullivans first property venture inappeared on the north side of the building, all the wayinside the ceiling had moved from the wall over one inch Jerome was the purchase of Jenny Bauters brick bawdydown to the bottom. Another extended from east toand cracks were visible over the windows of room 11 and house that spanned the distance between upper Main Streetwest along that wall. It was a continuous bombardmentaround the concrete pillars holding the top floors of the and Hull Avenue. It appears from the records that Sullivanaccording to Sullivan. His son, his wife and family ate atbuilding up. He found ceiling plaster down in room 12 and bought the building in about 1905 from an agent of Jennysa dining room table in the hotel. One shot sent plasterin room 21 ceiling plaster was down and there were cracks estate after she was murdered at a branch business locationcrashing from the ceiling down onto the table. Sullivanin the brick wall and around the pillar for 30 feet. The third on Goldenrod near Kingman.wrote that every shot seemed bigger than the last one andfloor was even worse with plaster down or cracks in rooms he warned everyone not to look up when a shot was fired117, 119, 120, 121 and 122. REMODELING NEEDED as it might dislodge the ceiling. It wasnt too long until an Sullivan began remodeling Jennys old place into a hotel. Ininjury resulted from the blasting. Sullivans daughter KateA HOTEL IN MOTIONhis rather fragmented and often backtracking journal hewas in the bathroom with her baby. A blast shook the hotelThe moving ground on which the hotel sat also caused shifts says he bought the property for $1500. He describes it asand plaster fell on the childs head, giving it a concussionin the roof, which began to leak. It was in September, several a house of 22 rooms. Sullivan recounts that he had to putand causing what the doctors said at the time was someyears after the 1935 entry, in 1937 so far as we can determine a new roof on the building and plaster the rooms, whichbrain damage. from the ledger, that the plaster fell on the babys head. By cost $2000, raising his investment to $3500. By 1913 he hadthe end of the month, Sullivan reported that Kate had gone started extensive renovations of the building, adding to theSullivans journal notes his ownership of the Wig Wamto see Sabin, the general manager at the mine, about the structure over the old house and expanding onto areas of thebut does not say when he acquired it. The records show hedynamiting, the falling plaster and the injury to her child. lots, described as lots 3 and 4, which were not built on. Thisalso built the Sullivan Apartments on Main about a blockShe reported that Sabin denied any responsibility, saying the expansion brought the hotel up to a total of 60 rooms withand a half below the Hotel Sullivan on the opposite side ofsmall amount of powder the company was using would not five penthouse rooms built on the roof. Total cost $60,000. the street. Sullivans ledger and diary did not mention anycause the plaster to fall in town. Sabin did inform her that problems from blasting at the apartments, only at the hotel.the town was sinking and he did not know what would He accomplished the addition above Jennys old 22 roomEntries in the ledger are mixed and dates do not coincidebecome of it. Sullivan was well aware at this time that in house by building on top of eight concrete pillars two feetwith page numbers. Basically, they cover, in a spotty fashionaddition to the economic difficulties the Great Depression by nine inches thick that he had built around the old housefrom 1920 to 1940 with incidents before 1920 basicallyhad caused him since the crash in 1929, his hotel had to support the weight of the upper level. Unfortunately, therecalled and written down and some of those in between asdeveloped a reputation for not being a pleasant, quiet or safe building began to crack. Sullivan removed three of the fourwell. For example, we learn that in 1920 Sullivan paid fromplace to stay.penthouse rooms from the roof, hoping to take off some$118 to $128 per month for lights and water.weight and end the cracking. The cracking continued. NO COUNTY TAX BREAKHAUNT FROM FAR UNDER He asked someone to see if the Yavapai County board Apparently the problem did not become serious until 1926.We also learn that from the initial explosion of the powderof supervisors could reduce his taxes on the hotel as the Sullivan says that during that year, the powder magazinemagazine in 1926 Sullivan was haunted by falling plasterblasting, the moving earth and the falling plaster made it of the United Verde Copper Company exploded. Theand cracking in the hotel for more than 10 years. Fordifficult for him to do business. The ledger shows numerous concussion from the explosion cracked his building fromexample, in 1935, in what appears to be a general damagepayments by Sullivan to doctors and hospitals in Phoenix for top to bottom of the three stories, broke windows andassessment of the hotel, Sullivan reports that on the bottomcare of the baby.warped doors so they could not be closed. A short timefloor on Hull Avenue a crack ranging frominch at the later, he says a missed hole had been struck by a steambottom of the wall to two inches from the middle to the topTOWN ON THE MOVEshovel and this knocked the plaster from many of the hotelof the wall was noted. As the year ended, Sullivan wrote that three houses fell down rooms. He began repairing the ceiling plaster in the roomsbetween the Post Office and the swimming pool. Four others and the cracks in the brick wall. Also noted, cracks above the doors and windows on theare considered dangerous. Roads were sinking between Hull side. Sullivan says the cracks did not follow the mortarthe Hampton House and Revel House, he notes, and there The United Verde was, by this time, firing a new shot orlines of the brickwork, but often ran right through thehas been a slide in Mescal Gulch. The street between the dynamite blast every day, Sullivan reports. A new crackmiddle of the bricks. On the second floor he noted thatcontinued on page 18ArizonaRealCountry.com February 2023 17'