An old mining town clings to the side of a mountain. It is a lost land of concrete bones, a skeleton from a different age. Once hailed as “the wickedest town in the West,” it set aside its rowdy ways.

Jerome clings to Cleopatra Hill like a town that refuses to let go. Once home to 15,000 miners, it now hosts fewer than 500 residents and possibly thousands of restless spirits. Old brothels, boarding ...