The Audrey Shaft and UVX Operations

The Audrey shaft was the surface heart of one of mining's great gambles. James Rawhide Jimmy Douglas took an option on ground next to the United Verde in 1912 and sank money into it against the flat advice of his own geologists, who judged it worthless. He kept digging as his resources dwindled, and in December 1914 his crews cut into an astonishingly rich copper deposit that made the United Verde Extension one of the most profitable mines in the country. The Audrey headframe, raised in 1918, stood over the bonanza that vindicated his stubbornness.

What the plaque says

The state-of-the-art Audrey shaft and headframe was the largest facility of its kind built by the United Verde Extension (UVX) Company. The shaft was constructed in 1918 only after the location of an extraordinarily rich copper deposit made the investment viable. The search for the bonanza had not been easy. James S. Rawhide Douglas obtained an option on the company in 1912 and dug for copper, apparently in vain and against the advice of his own geologists. Against all odds, Douglas persisted, and in December of 1914, with his resources nearly exhausted, his crews ran into the incredible deposit.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Jerome — 0.3 mi
  The billion-dollar copper camp clinging to Cleopatra Hill — now the largest ghost town in America
• Tuzigoot — 5.0 mi
  A hilltop Sinagua pueblo over the Verde, dug out of the ground in the Depression
• Montezuma Castle — 18 mi
  A five-story Sinagua cliff dwelling, misnamed for an emperor who was never here
• Sedona — 21 mi
  Red-rock skyline, Little Hollywood, and the town Sedona Schnebly gave her name to

More markers nearby

• Jerome's Famous Sliding Jail — 0.2 mi
• Bartlett Hotel — 0.3 mi
• Husbands' Alley — 0.3 mi
• Jerome Blast Furnace — 0.3 mi