Whitten Printers

Carl E.C. Whitten, a graduate of Jerome High School and the son of immigrant parents, worked for the Prescott Evening Courier before returning to Jerome in 1927. He bought the Verde Copper News, which had begun in Jerome in 1917, from A.J. "Papa" Doud. In 1933, Carl married Marie Springer, head of nursing at the Phelps Dodge Hospital, while Carl was the youngest owner-publisher of a newspaper in Arizona. As mining operations declined, Jerome residents began leaving town, and the Verde Copper News printed its final issue in 1935. Carl then started the Verde Valley Shopping News and continued until 1945, when the family moved to Phoenix. The printing shop operated in the basement of what had originally been the Fashion Saloon, now the mine museum and gift shop, because the building was structurally sound enough to hold the newspaper presses.

Jerome, Arizona · United States