Clemenceau

[rustycoinUT]

is a ghost town in Yavapai County. It was built as a company town in 1917 to serve the new smelter for James Douglas, Jr.'s United Verde Extension mine in Jerome. The town was named in honor of the French Premier in World War I, Georges Clemenceau, a personal friend of Mr. Douglas.

The Clemenceau smelter closed on December 31, 1936. Most residents then left the area. When Cottonwood was incorporated in 1960, Clemenceau and the Clemenceau Airport were annexed to Cottonwood.

With the exception of the school, the bank/post office and the smelter slag pile, little remains of the original town of Clemenceau. A largely-invisible remnant is the Clemenceau Water Company, which still serves the area of the old town of Clemenceau. The town of Cottonwood bought the company in 2004, but it still operates as a separate entity, as of 2006.