Clarkdale was founded in 1912 as a company smelter town by William A. Clark, for his copper mine in nearby Jerome.

Clarkdale was one of the most modern mining towns in the world, including telephone, telegraph, electrical, sewer and spring water services, and was an early example of a planned community.

The structure, east of town across the Verde River near Pecks Lake, was destroyed in 2010 by a fire of "suspicious" origin.

The entire original town site is also on the National Register as the Clarkdale Historic District.

[4] The mine and smelter closed in 1953, and Clarkdale entered hard times.

The 1959 construction of the Phoenix Cement Company (now Salt River Materials Group) plant restored a modest prosperity to the community.

Mexican and Mexican-American laborers were restricted to living in Patio Town (see neighborhoods), with a separate swimming pool and park; the town swimming pool was marked "whites only."

Clarkdale is at 3,545 feet (1,081 m) above sea level at the confluence of Bitter Creek and the Verde River in Yavapai County, northern Arizona.

Sycamore Creek, which flows through the wilderness, enters the Verde River canyon about 6.5 miles (10.5 km) north-northwest of Clarkdale.

Between 1949 and 1977, Cottonwood, Clarkdale's close neighbor, received an average of about 4 inches (10 cm) of snow a year.

[12] The Salt River Materials Group (formerly Phoenix Cement Co. is Clarkdale's only major industry.

Clarkdale is home to the Verde Canyon Railroad, a scenic excursion train that follows part of the route of the Verde Valley Railroad, constructed in 1911–12 to serve Clark's mine and smelter, to Drake and Perkinsville, now ghost towns.

Several motion pictures have been shot in Clarkdale, including Desert Fury, Midnight Run, Universal Soldier, Benefit of the Doubt and Brothel.

[14] The Made in Clarkdale organization hosts an annual invitational art show each December in the Clark Memorial Clubhouse.

[17] That district operates Clarkdale–Jerome School in Clarkdale, a facility which also takes students from Jerome.