Cedar, Arizona was a short-lived gold, silver, and copper mining town (now a ghost town) in Mohave County, on the eastern slopes of the Hualapai Mountains. It lay roughly 60 miles southeast of Kingman, near present-day Wikieup, at an elevation of about 4,459 feet (1,359 m). Coordinates are approximately 34°46′43″N 113°47′40″W.
Founding and Early Development
Mining activity began in the early 1870s after prospectors discovered promising deposits of gold, silver, and copper in what became known as the Cedar Valley Mining District (or Cedar Mining District). The settlement itself is generally dated to around 1875. It formed part of the broader wave of mineral exploration across Mohave County and northwestern Arizona that followed the creation of Arizona Territory in 1863 and the establishment of early military posts and wagon roads.
The remote location offered access to timber and water resources useful for mining and milling operations. Early activity focused on quartz veins containing sulphides hosted in granite. Claims in the area included groups such as the Cedar Group (also associated with names like Arnold, Silver Queen, Prince, Wide Awake, and others). Operations remained relatively small-scale at first, typical of many isolated Arizona mining camps of the era.
Peak Years
The town gained more formal recognition when a post office opened on September 24, 1895 (some sources list September 25). This facilitated communication and commerce and marked a period of modest growth. At its height around 1907, Cedar supported approximately 200 residents. Infrastructure included the post office, two saloons, a general store, and several homes.
Two companies were particularly active: the Cedar Valley Gold & Silver Company and the Yucca Cyanide Mining & Milling Company. The latter reflected the growing use of cyanide processing techniques for recovering precious metals from lower-grade ores, a technology that became more common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mining remained the sole economic driver; there is little evidence of significant agriculture, ranching, or other industries sustaining the community.
Decline and Abandonment
Like many Arizona mining camps, Cedar’s prosperity depended on accessible, profitable ore. By the early 1900s, easily worked shallow deposits were increasingly exhausted, raising extraction costs and reducing returns. The post office closed on July 31, 1911 (some accounts give July 11). Population declined rapidly thereafter. Within about a decade of its 1907 peak—by roughly the late 1910s—the site was largely abandoned.
No major railroad connection or large-scale capital investment appears to have sustained operations long-term, leaving the town vulnerable once the initial boom faded. This pattern mirrored the rise and fall of numerous small districts in the Hualapai Mountains and wider Mohave County.
Legacy and Present Day
Today Cedar is a classic ghost town. A roughly half-mile stretch of Cedar Valley contains scattered stone ruins, foundations of mining buildings and dwellings, and other remnants of the former settlement and workings. Access is typically by dirt roads suitable for high-clearance or 2WD vehicles depending on conditions; the site lies near Wikieup in a remote, rugged area of the Hualapai Mountains. Visitors should be prepared for desert conditions, limited services, and the need to respect private claims or public land regulations.
Cedar’s brief history illustrates the boom-and-bust cycle that defined much of Arizona’s late-19th- and early-20th-century mining frontier: rapid settlement driven by mineral discoveries, modest community development centered on extractive industry, and swift decline once ores played out. It remains a quiet historical site rather than a preserved tourist destination, preserving physical traces of the prospectors and workers who once lived there.