Amargosa Opera House and Hotel is a historic building and cultural center located in Death Valley Junction, in eastern

Inyo County, California Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is ...

near Death Valley National Park. Resident artist Marta Becket staged dance and mime shows there from the late 1960s until her final show in February 2012. The Death Valley Junction Historic District is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

and is owned by the nonprofit established by Becket for the preservation of the property. The theater was part of a company town designed by architect Alexander Hamilton McCulloch and constructed in 1923–25 by the

Pacific Coast Borax Company The Pacific Coast Borax Company (PCB) was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis Smith, the "Borax King". History The roots of the Pacific Coast Borax Company lie in Mineral County, Nevada, east of ...

. The U-shaped complex of

Spanish Colonial Revival architecture The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In th ...

style adobe buildings included company offices, employees' headquarters, a dormitory and a 23-room hotel with a dining room, lobby and store. At the northeast end of the complex was a recreation hall used as a community center for dances, church services, movies, funerals and town meetings."The Hotel"
''Amargosa Opera House (official website)''. Retrieved 2013-05-21.

History

When the town of Amargosa was booming due to the Borax mining business, and its position at the terminus of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, about 350 people lived in the town. The hotel served as a very nice place to stay for both company executives and visiting investors, who were met at the train with white-gloved valets after a long and hot train ride. In addition to the hotel rooms, the cafe and a restaurant within the hotel, other rooms were bunkhouses for workers, an infirmary, a general store and what is now the Opera House, which was mostly used for showing films. A large gas station and garage across from the cafe was the only location in the area for repairs of trucks hauling borax out of the mines, in addition to passenger car repairs. When the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad ceased to be economical in 1942, the tracks were torn up completely and sent to Egypt, where the railroad was set up again to aid the Allies military effort in Egypt. Once the railroad stopped, the Opera House, Hotel and about 250 acres of land changed hands many times, until Marta Becket arrived on the scene. Marta Becket rented the recreation hall in 1967, when it was known as Corkhill Hall; she began repairs, created the sets, and painted murals on the adobe walls. She renamed it the Amargosa, the original name of the former mining town. In 1970, journalists from '' National Geographic'' discovered Becket doing a performance at the Amargosa Opera House without an audience. Their profile and another in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' led to an international interest in Becket and her theater. She began performing to visitors from around the world, including such notables as

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

and

Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program '' The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...

. In 1974, Becket completed her murals and established the nonprofit Amargosa Opera House, Inc. to continue preservation of the property. Through the

Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

, the nonprofit bought the town of Death Valley Junction, which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 10, 1981. In 1983, the Opera House bought 120 theater seats from the Boulder City Theater in

Boulder City, Nevada Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is approximately southeast of Las Vegas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Boulder City was 14,885. The city took its name from Boulder Canyon ( ...

to replace the worn garden chairs"The Opera House"
''Amargosa Opera House (official site)''. Retrieved 2013-05-20. and the official National Register of Historic Places marker for Death Valley Junction was placed. Jenna McClintock saw a performance when she was six years old and was inspired to start training in ballet. After a career with the Oakland Ballet, Jenna returned to thank Marta, and decided to stay and maintain the tradition. Jenna retired from the Amargosa Opera House in the spring of 2016. The Amargosa Hotel is open year-round for visitors from all over the world. Beyond these maintained areas, the town of Death Valley Junction is almost a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

. There are no gas stations. The single restaurant, the Amargosa Cafe, was part of the Opera House and Hotel, and has recently re-opened with an Australian-American cook making very upscale, Australian-American fusion roadhouse/coffee shop meals, pastries and coffees from espresso to American drip. The interior of the Cafe is like a time capsule, like most of the Amargosa Hotel, with an old counter and circular counter chairs.

Location

The Amargosa Opera House and Hotel is located on

California State Route 127 State Route 127 (SR 127) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that connects Interstate 15 in Baker to Nevada State Route 373 at the Nevada state line, passing near the eastern boundary of Death Valley National Park. The entire lengt ...

in Death Valley Junction at the junction of National Scenic Byway, California State Route 190,

, Furnace Creek Inn area and Death Valley National Park, 27 miles (43 km) northwest. South is the town of

Shoshone, California Shoshone is a census designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States. The population was 22 at the 2020 census, down from 31 at the 2010 census. The town was founded in 1910. Although small, it is notable as a southern gateway ...

, and the

Tecopa Hot Springs Tecopa (formerly Brownsville) is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Mojave Desert, in Inyo County, California, United States. Tecopa is located south-southeast of Shoshone, at an elevation of . The population was 150 at the 2010 census, u ...

. The Nevada state line is five miles to the northeast."Fun Facts"
''Amargosa Opera House (official website)''. Retrieved 2013-05-20.

In popular culture

As the Lost Highway Hotel, it was featured in David Lynch's '' Lost Highway''.Medved, Harry and Akiyama, Bruce (2007). ''Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer's Guide to Exploring Southern California's Great Outdoors''.

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publ ...

p.143
The exterior of the Amargosa Opera House was also shown in the movies '' The Hitcher'' and Carl Colpaert's ''

Delusion A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or som ...

''. The exterior of the adjacent cafe and hotel colonnade were shown in a 40 second segment of Robert Plant's video of his 1983 song,

Big Log "Big Log" is a song by English recording artist Robert Plant from his second solo studio album, '' The Principle of Moments'' (1983). It was the first single from the album and became his first Top 40 solo hit, peaking at No. 11 on the UK Single ...

. The interior of the Opera House features in the video of the Lighthouse Family's song "Lifted". Todd Robinson's documentary, ''Amargosa'' (2000) about Marta Becket and Amargosa won a 2003 Emmy Award for cinematographer Curt Apduhan and was a

finalist The final of a competition is the match or round in which the winner of the entire event is decided. In sports competitions following a knockout system, where only two individuals or teams compete in each match, the final is usually played between ...

for an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature, in addition to numerous festival awards and nominations. Reports of hauntings in the buildings were investigated on the

paranormal television Paranormal television is a genre of reality television that purports to document factual investigations of the paranormal rather than fictional representations seen in traditional narrative films and tv. Over the years, the genre has grown to be ...

shows ''

Ghost Adventures ''Ghost Adventures'' is an American paranormal and reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2008, on the Travel Channel before moving to Discovery+ in 2021. An independent film of the same name originally aired on the Sci-Fi Cha ...

'' in 2010 and '' The Dead Files'' in 2013.

Local interest

Features

* Amargosa River *

Amargosa Valley The Amargosa Valley is the valley through which the Amargosa River flows south, in Nye County, southwestern Nevada and Inyo County in the state of California. The south end is alternately called the "Amargosa River Valley'" or the "Tecopa Valley. ...

Amargosa Pupfish Station The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife refuge located in the Amargosa Valley of southern Nye County, in southwestern Nevada. It is directly east of Death Valley National Park, and is west-northwest of Las Vegas.

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife refuge located in the Amargosa Valley of southern Nye County, in southwestern Nevada. It is directly east of Death Valley National Park, and is west-northwest of Las Vegas.

History

Death Valley Junction, California Death Valley Junction, more commonly known as Amargosa ( Spanish for "Bitter"), is a tiny Mojave Desert unincorporated community in Inyo County, California, at the intersection of SR 190 and SR 127, in the Amargosa Valley and just east of Deat ...

* Death Valley Railroad *

Francis Marion Smith Francis Marion Smith (February 2, 1846 – August 27, 1931) (once known nationally and internationally as "Borax Smith" and "The Borax King" ) was an American miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, the San Francisc ...

, the "Borax King" * Lila C, California *

Ryan, California Ryan (formerly known as Devar ("Devair" as a misprint)) is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. A former mining community and company town, Ryan is situated at an elevation of in the Amargosa Range, northeast of Dante's Vi ...

Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad was a former class II railroad that served eastern California and southwestern Nevada. The railroad was built mainly to haul borax from Francis Marion Smith's Pacific Coast Borax Company mines located just eas ...

, the "T&T"

References

Amargosa Opera House Hotel
"hotels near Amargosa Opera House"
'' HotelsNearby.us'' Retrieved on 16 February 2015.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amargosa Opera House And Hotel Buildings and structures in Inyo County, California California opera companies Opera houses in California Hotels in California Regional theatre in the United States Theatres in California History of the Mojave Desert region Companies based in Inyo County, California Event venues established in 1925 Hotels established in 1925 Hotel buildings completed in 1925 1925 establishments in California Arts organizations established in 1974 1974 establishments in California National Register of Historic Places in Inyo County, California Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California Opera houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in California Reportedly haunted locations in California Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Tourist attractions in Inyo County, California 1920s architecture in the United States Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California

History

Location

In popular culture

Local interest

Features

History

See also

References

External links