Tag: Mojave

El Dorado Canyon – Nevada State Historic Marker

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El Dorado Canyon NSHM is Nevada State Historical Marker number six and is located in Clark County, Nevada. The stone marker is located on the junction of State Route 165 and U.S. Highway 95 between Searchlight and Boulder and the Eastern side of the Highway.

Nevada State Historical Markers identify significant places of interest in Nevada’s history. The Nevada State Legislature started the program in 1967 to bring the state’s heritage to the public’s attention with on-site markers. Budget cuts to the program caused the program to become dormant in 2009. Many of the markers are lost of damaged.

El Dorado Canyon NSHM looks down on Lake Mojave in Clark County Nevada
El Dorado Canyon looks down on Lake Mojave in Clark County Nevada

El Dorado Canyon has a long history of mining in Nevada. Early on in its history, the canyon operated as a Colorado River Steamship port which offload mining and settlement supplies into the surrounding desert. The towns of El Dorado and Nelson are founded within the canyon hosted miners, settlers and a strong criminal element. For a time, the settlements were some of the most violent in the region.

Today, the “ghost town” of Nelson is a semipopular tourist destination. The townsite is an easy drive from Las Vegas and offers visitors the chance to see some old mining artifacts, structures and mines. However the location is clearly reconstructed appear something that it never was. For those of us who love to visit ghost towns, you may be disappointed.

Regardless, the history of the location is storied and full of adventure.

Nevada State Historic Marker Text

Toward the Colorado River from this point runs El Dorado Canyon, where occurred one of the biggest mining booms in Nevada history. Gold and silver were discovered here about 1859 and soon mines were developed. In the 1860’s, the canyon was bursting with a rowdy population of nearly 500 men, many of these said to be deserters from the Civil War.

The river was navigable at the time, making it possible to bring in food and supplies by boat.

Notorious for its feuds and shootings, the canyon was equally well known for its three largest mines, the Techatticup, Wall Street and Savage which yielded five million dollars during 40 years of operations.

STATE HISTORICAL MARKER NO. 6 – STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE

Nevada State Historic Marker Map

Nevada Historic Marker Summary

ID6
NameEl Dorado Canyon
LocationClark County, Nevada
Latitude, Longitude35.8281, -114.9369

References

Atolia California – San Bernardino County Ghost Town

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Atolia is a ghost town and tungsten mine located in the Mojave Desert in northwestern San Bernardino County, California. The town is located just off the scenic 395 highway near Randsberg, California.

Atolia and mine in the Mojave Desert, circa 1908 postcard.
Atolia and mine in the Mojave Desert, circa 1908 postcard.

The town’s named was created from the combination for two mining company officials, Atkins and DeGolia, The site started as a tungsten mine in 1905. The town peaked around the time of World War II, when it is known as the largest producer of tungsten in the world. Despite this honor growth is hindered and the town is overshadowed by towns producing more glamorous metals such as gold and siler. Tungsten is a common component used to harden steel alloys. Prior to World War II, Germany is one of Atolia’s largest customers, when their trade access is severed with the formation of British Blockades.

Not to be outdone, the Germans developed cargo submarines known as U-Boats to run the blockade. On July 9th, 1916 the German U-Boat “Deutschland” arrived in Baltimore, Maryland to be loaded with tungsten from Atolia. The town reached a population of 2,000 people during World War I. Following the great war, demand for tungsten plummeted along with its price. The price dropped caused the tungsten mines for close.

There was a brief resurgence in Atolia during World War II, when demand for hardened steel opened the mines again for a brief moment in time.

Atolia Town Map

Town Summary

NameAtolia California
LocationMojave Desert, San Bernardino County, California
Latitude, Longitude35.3147387,-117.6170878
GNIS1660280
Elevation3,280 Feet
Population2,000
Post Office1906 – 1922, 1927 – 1944

References

Ivanpah California – San Bernardino County Ghost Town

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Not of be confused with two others sites of the same name, Ivanpah is a ghost town and mine site located along the Eastern edge of San Bernardino County, California. Rich Silver deposits found on the lower slopes of Clark Mountain lead to the founding on the town in 1869.

Ivanpah - Bidwell Mill
Ivanpah – Bidwell Mill

The Piute Company of California and Nevada was funding the prospecting for Copper in the area when the rich silver ore is discovered. The company quickly laid out a townsite near “Willow Springs” and named the site “Ivanpah” which is the a Native American word for “Clear Water.”

By 1871, Ivanpah is a well know and flourishing trading post. The town itself is host to fifteen well built adobe buildings which include a hotel, two stores, several small houses and the head quarters for the Piute Company of California and Nevada. In 1875 a 5-stamp mill in constructed by the McFarlane brothers. The Lizzie Bullock mine receives a larger 10-stamp mill built by JA Bidwell. A Post Office is founded in 1878 and the following year the foot print of buildings includes o saloons, two stores, two blacksmith shops, two shoemakers’ shops, two hotels, two hay yards, a butcher shop, and several “neat and comfortable” houses.

Ivanpah was host to several mines in the nearby Mineral hills including Hite & Chatfield (renamed to Lizzie Bullock), the monitor and the Beatrice which is owned by Andrew, John, Tom and William McFarland.

The founding of Providence and Calico pulled interest away from Ivanpah, and the ore loosing its quality and value doomed the town to history.

Ivanpah Town Map

Town Summary

NameIvanpah
Also Known AsIvanpah I
LocationSan Bernardino, California
Latitude, Longitude35.545, -115.535278
Elevation4,880 Feet
Active1869 – 1898
Population100 – 300
Post Office1878 – 1899
News PaperGreen-Eyed Monster 1880

References

Calico California – San Bernardino Count Ghost Town

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Calico California is a ghost town located just outside of Barstow in Mojave desert of San Bernardino, California. The town began its like in 1881 when four miners from Grapevine Station (present day Barstow) began prospecting the “Calico Colored” mountains to the north east. The prospectors soon found the Silver King Mine, which was the largest producer of Silver in California in the 1880’s.

Calico California
Calico California

The prospectors were grubstaked by John C. King for whom the the Silver King Mine was named. John King also served as the San Bernardino County Sherriff from 1879 to 1882.  The post office is added to the town in 1882 along with the publishing on the newspaper the Calico Print which is published weekly. A typical assortment of business are started to support the mining efforts including three hotels, bars, brothels, boarding hoses, restaurants and a Wells Fargo office.

During the heyday, Calico boasted 500 mines, 3,500 townspeople, two constables, a deputy sheriff, two attorneys, two doctors and a boot hill cemetery. In 1890, the Silver Purchase Act drove down the price of silver and the decrease in profits made the town no longer economically viable. Future attempts at a rebirth and revival failed.

Miner and workmen crews at the Silver King Mine — in the Calico mining district, Mojave Desert, southern California.
Miner and workmen crews at the Silver King Mine — in the Calico mining district, Mojave Desert, southern California.

The town was purchase from Zenda Mining Company in 1951 by Walter Knot. It so happened, that Walter Knott was the nephew of John C. King and the founder of Knott’s Berry Farm. Mr. Knott invested over $700,000 restoring Calico in an attempt the create a road side attraction. Some of the original buildings are removed and replaced with facades similar in construction to a Hollywood set. Despite this fact, Calico played an important role and holds a special place in California history.

Calico Trail Map

Town Summary

NameCalico, California
LocationSan Bernardino County, California
Latitude, Longitude34.948889, -116.864167
GNIS1660414
Elevation2,285 feet
Population3,500
Post Office1882 – 1898
NewspaperCalico Print

References

Darwin California – Inyo County Ghost Town

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Darwin is a unincorporated community, gold mining town and ghost town located in Inyo County, California about 22 miles from Keeler. The town was named for Darwin French, who lead a party of prospectors into Death Valley in 1860 looking for the mythical gunsight lode. This prospecting eventually lead to the wash, canyon and town named in his honor.

The site which became Darwin was formed in 1874 following a discovery of lead and silver. The overall grwoth of the town was limited by its water supply which is piped from over eight miles away. This discovery coincided with near by Panamint, although the rush to Darwin was more muted. Darwin has a population of about 700 at this time.

The Coso Mining News published weekly from 1875 – 1878 by T.S. Harris. The newspaper closed in September 1878 and the publisher moved up north to Bodie. The moved of the newspaper is symptomatic and followed by many others including miners seeker greener pastures. The town of Darwin had a remaining population of about 250 people. Despite the plunging population the town still supported six saloons, four stores, three restaurants and a drug store. Between the years of 1874 and 1877 newspapers reported at least 80 murders.

Darwin is a rarity and survived its original boom. The town remained viable until World Was I, when larger mining operations could profit of lower yielding ores. A post office opened in 1875 and closed in 1902. Eventually, the post office reopened and remains open today.

The Darwin Store run by Reynolds and Etcharren Partners, 1906. | Photo: Courtesy of the Eastern California Museum.
The Darwin Store run by Reynolds and Etcharren Partners, 1906. | Photo: Courtesy of the Eastern California Museum.

Darwin Today

In 2011, a documentary called Darwin is available on Amazon Prime. The documentary is described, “Propelled from society by tragic turns, the isolated community of Darwin, Death Valley (population 35) must now find ways to coexist in a place without a government, a church, jobs, or children.” I did watch the documentary and found it interesting. However, its focus was on the people living there now and not much on the history.

Recently, Brent Underwood, owner of Cerro Gordo featured Darwin on his youtube channel. He was scrounging old boards from buildings in Darwin to help rebuild Cerro Gordo. I am not sure how I feel about damaging one old town to rebuild another…

Darwin Town Summary

NameDarwin, California
LocationInyo County, California
Latitude, Longitude36.268056 -117.591667
Elvation4,790 ft ( 1460 m )
GNIS241269
Population3500
Post OfficeOpen
NewspaperCoso Mining News ( Nov. 6, 1875 – Sept. 4, 1878 )

Darwin Town Map

Resources