Lee (also, Lees Camp) is a former settlement in Inyo County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It was located near the

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

state line, east of Beatty Junction. A post office operated at Lee from 1907 to 1912. Its first postmaster was John H. Lawrence. The name honors Richard and Gus Lee, who discovered gold at the site. Founded in 1905, Lee had a population of 600 people in 1907, and the town had a rivalry with nearby

Rhyolite, Nevada Rhyolite is a ghost town in Nye County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is in the Bullfrog Hills, about northwest of Las Vegas, near the eastern boundary of Death Valley National Park. The town began in early 1905 as one of several mining cam ...

. Lee had many saloons, a

hiring hall In organized labor, a hiring hall is an organization, usually under the auspices of a labor union, which has the responsibility of furnishing new recruits for employers who have a collective bargaining agreement with the union. It may also refer t ...

of the Death Valley Miners Union, a store, a newspaper, and even a red light district. However, the

Panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% fro ...

began the eventual decline of Lee. The town store was open until 1912, and the post office closed the same year. Several artifacts can be found at the site, including stone walls and foundations, along with mine shafts and tunnels, cans, and broken glass bottles.

References

Amargosa Desert Former settlements in Inyo County, California History of the Mojave Desert region Populated places in the Mojave Desert Former populated places in California {{InyoCountyCA-geo-stub