Mayer is a small town in Yavapai County, in north-central Arizona. Midway between Phoenix and Flagstaff, more specifically Mayer is approximately 75 miles north of Phoenix and 27 miles south of Prescott, and the more or less geographical center of the state and has a population of under 2000. Nearby towns and cities include Prescott, Prescott Valley, Jerome, Chino Valley, Ash Fork, Paulden, Wilhoit, Williamson Valley, Spring Valley, Cordes Lakes, Camp Verde, Cottonwood, Sedona and Dewey-Humbolt.
The town’s namesake, Joseph Mayer, whose given name was Joseph Hoffmayer, was a gold prospector and entrepreneur. Born in Olean, New York to French immigrants, he ran away from home when he was a teenager and worked in various places, including with a wild west circus. He changed his surname to Mayer to hide from his family.
Mayer settled in Silver City, New Mexico, where he met Sarah Belle Wilbur, and the two were later married in Globe, Arizona. Mayer and Sarah had four children: Mary Bell (1878–1964), Martha Gertrude (1881–1967), Wilbur Joseph (1882–1955) and Winifred Lucille (1892–1983). Mayer spent a year mining in Globe and in 1881 began mining at the Tip Top Mine by Cottonwood Creek. He opened a restaurant and a store, later moving to the area that would be called Mayer where he purchased the Big Bug Stage station. Miners would often stop at the Mayers' place to rest. In 1882, Mayer officially founded the town which bears his name, and in 1884, his wife Sarah became the first postmistress of the town.
Mayer offered the right-of-way to the Southern Pacific Railroad with the condition that they establish a rail line that ran through the town. The railroad began servicing the town of Mayer in 1898. Mayer established a brickyard and in 1902, he used his bricks to build a business block, now known as the Mayer Business Block, across the street from the Mayer Hotel. The block included a saloon with a dance floor, a barber and bath shop, a mercantile shop and a general store. Mayer also financed the building of two schools, one within the town and the second one two miles out from the town for the miners' children.
The Mayer Reality Investment Company in 1904 incorporated the town, laid out streets, and sold lots. Years later, one of Joe's daughters, 88 year-old Winnie Thorpe remembered: "It was a very quiet life, but once in a while somebody would get drunk and kill the other one."
On November 28, 1909, Joe Mayor heard a noise outside his house and took his rifle and ran outside. He tripped as he ran and accidentally shot himself. The wounds which he received were fatal and he died soon after. Mayer’s weekly Journal-Miner reported, "Joe Mayer, the popular pioneer of Big Bug, and one of the most prominent citizens of Northern Arizona, has accidentally shot himself and has succumbed to the injuries."
When Joe Mayer was laid to rest, the Prescott Courier reported that the service was "…the largest funeral ever held in this city." Northern Arizona's businesses and courts closed for the funeral and hundreds of mourners who could not squeeze into the small the Catholic Sacred Heart Church of Prescott stood outside in the freezing cold to pay their last respects to the beloved pioneer. The church bell tolled as the the funeral train passed by. Mayer was buried in Mountain View Cemetery located at 1051 Willow Creek Rd. in Prescott.
Several of the town’s early structures are on the national register of historic places, including the Mayer Market, the Mayer Hotel, the Mayer Business Block, two Mayer apartment buildings built by Joe Mayer, the Red Brick Schoolhouse, and the Mayer Smokestack.
The Mayer smokestack is as iconic to Mayer as Thumb Butte is to Prescott. The 129.5 foot-high tower was meant to carry smoke from the smelting of precious metals mined by the Henrietta Mine 8 miles west of Mayer. Construction of the tower began in 1917. Men worked for 36 cents an hour on the structure, pouring reinforced concrete in five-foot sections. The walls were tapered in thickness with the inside diameter 16 feet at the foot and ten feet at the top. With WWI winding down, demand for metals was decreasing and the mine shut down in 1918. Local schools much later used the stack to celebrate graduations, the last in 1985. At various times the tower was the object of building plans but it was found the structure’s 10 to 12 inch thick walls were cracked and further considerations were abandoned.
Mayer celebrates Mayer Daze each October. This a small town family festival hosting a parade, karoke, BBQ, classic car show, and including a silent auction, vendors, and pony rides. The town boasts of a Meals on Wheels office, the Mayer Fire Department, the Mayer Recreation Center, Northern Arizona’s own 100-year old, 26,000-acre, 150-student prep school, and is served by the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office. Areas of interest include several nearby recreational lakes, frequent classic car shows, Mortimor Family Farms, the Ruger firearm company, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the World’s Oldest Rodeo, and Arcosanti, the eclectic, non-profit, futuristic commune and architectural curiosity.