The Secrets of Old Town
By Roger Naylor
Old Town Cottonwood bristles with secrets.
Old Town poses, postcard quaint—a collection of unique shops, galleries and restaurants fronted by covered sidewalks. It nestles in a riparian greenway just a stone’s throw from the Verde River. But that pastoral setting belies its rowdy past, scorched by flame and reveling in a joyous defiance.
The mining town of Jerome clings to the side of the mountain a few miles from Cottonwood. Over a billion dollars worth of ore was pulled from the ground and during its heyday Jerome was the third largest town in Arizona. But while copper proved to be big business for Jerome, Cottonwood’s economy was more liquid. Liquid, with a powerful kick.
Hooch, firewater, rotgut, cougar milk, stagger soup, coffin varnish; whatever you want to call it, booze was the early (and 90 proof) lifeblood of Cottonwood. Already a trading center for those drawn to the mines, the town boomed during Prohibition.
Nearby communities like Clarkdale and Clemenceau were company towns where mine owners stringently enforced the rules. No such restraints shackled the little burg named after a grove of the graceful trees that line the river.
Folks wanting to start a business, own some property, or who just chafed under the weight of regulations settled in Cottonwood. The town’s wide-open reputation soon lured an intriguing cast of characters, including one of Hollywood’s earliest sex symbols. Wonder who it was? Here’s a hint: she might have asked you to come up and see her some time.
“Mae West stayed at the Cottonwood Hotel when she was in town,” says Karen Leff, local historian who has owned the Cottonwood Hotel since 1996. “This was before her career had really taken off but she still made quite an impression. One of the old-timers I talked to really had a thing for her. He described how she’d hit all the speakeasies and she loved being around the bootlegging action. She used to play in the mash that was ready to be stilled.”
To understand what would bring Mae West to Cottonwood, you need to know about Joe Hall.
“He was called the ‘Bootleg King of Arizona, but Joe Hall was like a lot of men of that era. He was just doing the best he could for his family during hard times,” says Leff.
And he did well. His bootlegging operation was known throughout the southwest, drawing visitors from Los Angeles and Phoenix. Leff points out a huge dirt hill on the west side of town.
“Supposedly that’s the dirt they hauled out from digging tunnels under the street. That’s how they moved the booze from business to business and where they hid it in case of a raid. It was a pretty elaborate set-up. There are tunnels from one of Joe’s businesses to his residence on Cactus and Pinal. They were closed off after Sherriff Ruffner of Prescott broke things up in 1929. Joe was actually the first prisoner locked up in the newly built jail. He served 10 months and his prize still sat out front in a wagon the whole time.”
Hall may have been the first but he might not have been the most famous bootlegger to visit the jail. Al Capone’s name is etched on the jailhouse wall. It is rumored the Chicago gangster stopped in to bail out a friend. Today, the lock-up with its two cells still intact, serves as an official Visitor Center for the Old Town Association.
Like most towns of that era, Cottonwood suffered devastating fires, the first in 1917 and the second in 1925. The latter proved especially destructive, leveling 14 businesses and several residences. The cause was rumored to be an exploding still, although other theories have also been advanced. In fact, there are some who dispute the town’s bootlegging history. This seems perfectly natural to Leff.
“These are families with deep roots in the community and some people are very protective of the family name. I met two of Joe Hall’s daughters and one gave me lots of information and provided plenty of details. The other preferred not discussing her father’s involvement. But I know this was how things were and I know the tunnels exist. I’ve spoken to so many old-timers and it was their fathers who were building and rebuilding the town.”
Following the fire of ‘25, most businesses were constructed using reinforced concrete, an experimental material at the time. Insurance companies decided that exploding stills and businesses constructed from kindling were a volatile mix, so wooden structures were banned. Even the old wooden boardwalk was replaced by raised concrete sidewalks covered by awnings. These design choices gave the community its distinctive look and careful preservation landed Old Town a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
Next time you’re crossing the street in Old Town, stamp your foot. If the ground sounds hollow, you may be standing over an old bootlegging tunnel. Walk into a shop or restaurant and it may have once been home to a rollicking speakeasy. Stay at the Cottonwood Hotel and you may sleep in the same room as Mae West.
Old Town Cottonwood bristles with secrets.
If you’d like more details of Old Town’s colorful past, pick up a self-guided walking tour map at Cottonwood Hotel, 930 N. Main St., 928-634-9455 or cottonwoodhotel.com or visit the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce or the Old Town Association.
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