Ghost Towns of the Upper Mojave Desert
The ghost towns of the Upper Mojave Desert were not simply places that failed. Most began as working camps where miners, teamsters, merchants, mill men, families, and speculators tried to make a living from silver, gold, copper, borax, and other minerals.
Some camps grew quickly into towns with stores, saloons, schools, newspapers, post offices, and rail connections. Others were little more than a few tents, a mine shaft, and a water supply. Their fortunes depended on ore quality, transportation costs, water, fuel, markets, and the willingness of investors to keep money flowing into a difficult country.
Calico, Providence, Vanderbilt, Dale, Atolia, Cima, Silver Lake, Lanfair, Kingston, and dozens of smaller camps each followed a different course. A rich strike could bring a sudden rush. A drop in metal prices, a failed mill, exhausted ore, or the arrival of a railroad somewhere else could empty a town just as quickly.
What remains today may be a cemetery, stone foundation, mine dump, scattered lumber, road grade, or only a name on an old map. These places are part of the larger history of the Mojave Desert: its hard travel routes, sparse water, mining booms, railroads, and the people who attempted to build lives far from established towns.
This section follows those communities by mining district and region, placing each camp in its geographic and historical setting.
Adapted from the research and preliminary draft of Ghost Towns of the Upper Mojave Desert, Volume I: San Bernardino County by Alan Hensher and Larry M. Vredenburgh (c) 1986.
This presentation has been reorganized and supplemented for Digital-Desert.com. Original text, research, and copyright remain the property of the authors.
Calico and Waterman: Waterman, Calico, Bismarck, Daggett
Eastern Mojave: Providence, Mescal, Vanderbilt, Manvel/Barnwell, Borate, Marion, Minneola
Dale District: Dale, Columbia Mine, Copper City, Coolgardie, Stedman, Atolia
Cima and Vontrigger camps: Standard Camp, Toegl City, Camp Dawson
Southern Death Valley / Avawatz: Crackerjack, Avawatz, Copper City II
Silurian and Ivanpah country: Silver Lake, Gold Park, Pinon, Hart, Lanfair, Ledge/Maruba, Dunbar
Kingston Range: Baxter, Kingston, Chubbuck
Camps in Brief: short entries for lesser-known places
