Category: Points of Interest

Silver Star Mine

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The Silver Star Mine is a small mine site located off of the Zinc Mountain Road in San Bernardino County, California. The site rests at 4931 feet above sea level in the Ivanpah montains. The lonely site features a small humble cabin the miners used to survive and beat the heat. There is also a wrecked automobile near at the site, which has long since given up the battle against rust.

Silver Star Mine Cabin
Silver Star Mine Cabin

There is not much information available for this location on the Internet and hopefully I will be able to find some eventually. The mine site is also know as the Lucky Lode deposits. The route into the area is reasonably passable and should be suitable for most cars, provided the driver is used to operating on the back roads of the desert.

Silver Star Mine
Silver Star Mine rusted out auto

Some places claim that this mine produced lead, copper and zinc. The fact that this mine is found just off of Zinc Mountain Road offers some credence to a zinc mine. Other online sources claim this is a tungsten mine. A shallow mine shaft is located near the cabin. The shaft contains an old wooden ladder used by the miners and appears to be filled in, collapsed, or suspended after about 20 feet of workings.

Silver Star Mine Shaft
Silver Star Mine Shaft with ladder.

This stark hole in the ground reminds us what a challenges the life of a miner must endure. Hot, dry deserts, narrow, dark tunnels in a hostile landscape.

Silver Star Mine Trail Map

Resources

Goodsprings Nevada – Clark County Ghost Town

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Goodsprings, Nevada is locate about seven miles west of the I-15 near Jean, Nevada.  Mining activity in the area started in 1868 when a group of prospectors formed the New England district and since renamed the Yellow Pine.  Early efforts where soon abandoned due to the lack of silver in the ore.  The prospectors soon moved on, and Joe Good remained and the local springs were named for him.  In 1886, several prospectors from Utah came into the area and founded a permanent site which still exists today.

Goodsprings, Nevada - 1924
Goodsprings, Nevada – 1924

In 1892, the Keystone gold mine was discovered and established during an increase in activity due to the completion of the Nevada Southern Railways from Goffs, CA to Manvel.    The Keystone mine remained active until 1906 and produced some $600,000 in gold before closing.

An old water tower located inside Goodspings, Nevada
An old water tower located inside Goodspings, Nevada

1901 saw the consolidation of several mines into the Yellow Pine Mining Co.  Only the highest grade ore made it cost effective to deliver to the railroad in Manvel, some 45 miles away from the site.  In 1905, the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake railroad was completed to Jean, Nevada which shortened the distance to deliver down to 7 miles.  Mining activity continued to flourish with improved mining technique, higher mineral costs and lowered delivery costs all of which lean to a peak in production between 1915 and 1918.  During this time the site boasted 800 souls, several stores, a post office, hotel, hospital and a weekly paper.  As with many towns, mining production and profitability waned and the population fell.

The Pioneer Saloon located in Goodsprings, Nevada is still open and quite busy
The Pioneer Saloon located in Goodsprings, Nevada is still open and quite busy

Goodsprings Mines

  • Alice Mine
  • Argentina Mine
  • Belle Mine
  • Columbia Mine
  • Cosmopolitan Mine
  • Fredrickson Mine
  • Green Copper Mine
  • Hermosa Mine
  • Hoosier Mine
  • Iron gold Mine
  • Lookout Mine
  • Keystone Mine
  • Lavina Mine
  • Middlesex Mine
  • Surprise Mine
  • Table Top Mine
  • Yellow Pine
The mill site located just outside of Goodsprings, Nevada
The mill site located just outside of Goodsprings, Nevada

Goodsprings Nevada Trailmap

Lost Burro Mine

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Founded in 1907 when Bert Shively picked up a rock to throw at some stray burros and discovered gold, the Lost burro Mine is a great destination in Death Valley. The mine was operated from 1907 to the 1970s, with its greatest production of gold being from 1912 – 1917. The road into the mine is just 1.1 mile from Hunter Mountain road located in Death Valley National Park.  The trail is very easy to pass and suitable for most stock SUVs, although it does get narrow in two places.

The Lost Burrow Mine is located off Hunter Mountain Road in Death Valley National Park, CA
The Lost Burrow Mine is located off Hunter Mountain Road in Death Valley National Park, CA

As you approach the site, there is evidence of human occupation and the large amount of tin cans and artifacts gradually increase the closer you get to the mine site.  There is a long history of haunting and curses place upon people who remove artifacts from the location.  There are at least four structures still standing at the site.  The main cabin, a storage cabin, outhouse and the mine located high above on a cliff.  You can enter the cabin and storage cabin but posted warnings of Hantavirus warn of the potential danger.

The Lost Burrow Mine
The Lost Burrow Mine

The Upper Mill

The upper mill site is accessible using a steep short trail and well worth the effort.  The structure appears to be reinforced with guy wires to help maintain its state.  Much of the pulley system remains intact and the terrain and remote location reminds us of what these men endured to survive in this location.

The cabin found at the Lost Burrow Mine is in good shape.
The cabin found at the Lost Burrow Mine is in good shape.

There is evidence of many people returning removed items in the hopes of removing the curse. There are two buildings at the site with the Mill located just to the North.  Two short hikes to the hills above offer amazing views of the Racetrack Valley and Hunter Mountain.

The Lost Burrow Mine cabin interior
The Lost Burrow Mine cabin interior

Lost Burro Mine Video

Lost Burro Mine Trail Map

Elizalde Cement Plant

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The Elizalde Cement Plamt as seen from US 95 south to Beatty, NV
The Elizalde Cement Plamt as seen from US 95 south to Beatty, NV

While travelling north on Highway 95 from Las Vegas to Beaty, I spotted the Elizalde Cement plant from the road. We did not stop on that first passing as I was headed out to Race Track Valley, in Death Valley, CA. However, the memory of this missed destination occupied my mind for the duration of our camping trip.

A couple of quick trips across the “Interwebs” and I had misidentified the ruins I had seen as the remains of the Nevada ghost town of Carrara. Happily, I researched the “marble quarry” town of Carrara. A few months later we stopped at the location and open closer inspection, it didn’t feel “right”. Ghost Towns typically were built as tent cities and have few foundations. This site had a concrete walls, and was not laid out like a city.

Elizade Cement Plant, near Carrara, NV in Nye County
Elizade Cement Plant, near Carrara, NV in Nye County

Elizalde Cement Plant

Further research and I have found my error. The ruins I had found were of the Elizadle Cemet Plant. The Elizaldo Cement Plant was built in the early 1940’s by the Carrara Portland Cement Company. The nearby Carrara quarries were used to produce crushed marble, which was used in the white cements produced by the plant. Forty five men poured foundations for the plant between April 1941 and July of the same year.

The plant was named for Angel M. Elizalde, who was the President of Elizalde & Co. Ltd and a principal investor of the Cararra Portland Cement Co. Plans were already under-weigh to build a large advanced cement plant when Mr. Elizalde was elected President.

A large “fiesta” was scheduled for the opening on the plant in August, 1941. However, before a single pound of concrete is produced, a fire engulfed the site and the plant was badly burned. The fire claimed the machine shop, field office, blacksmith shop. This set back stopped construction at the site while the company searched for capital and replacement equipment.

Despite plans made for expanded production levels and reinvestment in the plant site, the start of World War 2 and increase in fuel costs doomed the plant. Today, a lot of concrete foundations lie in testimony to the unseen victims of World War 2. The plant is fenced off to curtail access, however, it has fallen prey to those with spray paint cans.

Now, I need to go back and find Carrara and its marble quarry! oh darn….

Resources

Carrara Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

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Carrara in Nye County Nevada

Carrara Ghost town is a small ghost town and marble mine located about ten miles south of Beatty in Nye County, Nevada on the east side of US 95.

In 1904 first attempts to quarry the high quality marble at the Carrara site. These initial efforts failed with the inability to produce larger slabs from the highly fractured and unstable marble.  More suitable deposits of marble are found in 1911. The American Carrara Marble Company laid out the Carrara town. The town was named for Carrara, Italy, which produced world class marble. 

A Metropolis in waiting

The marble is hauled by a standard cable railway down three miles from the quarry to town. This designed utilized town cars on a single track. At the midway point, siding in the tracked allowed the two trains to pass each other in opposing directions. The car at the top of the track loaded with marble would supply all the pull the empty car at the bottom of the track up the mountain on a free return.

Rail lines were already available in the Vegas and Tonopah Railroad. Water is pumped from Gold Center, NV using a nine mile long pipe line. The supply was generous enough to allow the town to boast a town fountain, which would shoot water six feet into the air. The fountain was built by the Marble Company to promote the appearance of longevity for the fledgling town.

The rail road line to town is completed in 1914. Soon thereafter, large marble blocks, which could weight up to 15 tons, are shipped to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, the large marble blocks are cut to size, finished and polished.

Eventually, the company with founded the town lost profits. The towns people saw hardship and soon moved away. With the exception of a few hangers on, the town is gone in 1924.

The town boasted a newspaper appropriately named the Carrara Obelisk ( 5/8/1913 – 09/1916 ), a post office, hotel, store, saloon and restaurant to serve the 150 people who called the place home. The site contained  about 40 buildings. The post office was open from May 5, 1913 to September 15, 2914.

Carrara Town Summary

NameCarrara Nevada
LocationNye County, Nevada
Population 150
Post OfficeMay 5, 1913 – September 15, 2914
NewspapersCarrara Obelisk Feb 7, 1914 – Sept 9, 1916
Carrara Miner July 21, 1929

Carrara Trail Map

Resources