Hart was a short-lived gold
mining town
A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry.
Historical mining communities Australia
* Ballarat, Victoria
* Bendig ...
located in the
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...
, in
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...
. It existed between 1908 and 1915, and was located on the northeastern edge of
Lanfair Valley near the
New York Mountains. The area is now in the
Castle Mountains National Monument, administered by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
.
History
In late 1907, while a depression gripped the nation, three prospectors from
Goldfield – James Hart and the brothers Bert and Clark Hitt – found pockets of rich gold ore in the
Castle Mountains, approximately four miles south of the
Barnwell & Searchlight Railroad.
The strike was touted as the "Second Goldfield bonanza". In early 1908, prospectors swarmed to the strike. During the next few months, 700 people arrived, a camp was established, a telephone line was strung to
Barnwell, the weekly newspaper ''Enterprise'' started up, a voting precinct and justice-court township were created, and a post office were established.
By summer, Hart's 1,500 residents were served by the Norton House and Martin House Hotels, and the Star
rooming house
A rooming house, also called a "multi-tenant house", is a "dwelling with multiple Lease-by-room, rooms rented out individually", in which the tenants share kitchen and often bathroom facilities. Rooming houses are often used as housing for low-i ...
(
flophouse). Other businesses included two general stores, (including the Hart-Gosney), the Ames Book and Cigar Store, a real-estate office, a candy store, two lumberyards, a bakery, eight saloons (including Hart and Hitt, C. Aguire, Arlington Club, Honest John, Oro Belle, and Northern Bar), and a brothel. There were telephone and telegraph services, and a water line.
A miners' union was organized. A businessmen's league limited the sale of liquor, enforced police and fire regulations, and ousted gamblers and toughs.
Hart and Hitt's original claim was sold by their promoter, Will Foster, to the Oro Belle Mining Company of
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...
in 1908 for $100,000. The mine was never profitable and shut down permanently in 1918.
[Snorf, D.N., “Early Days at Hart; Being the Reminiscenses of John Sherwood Snorf as told to Dorothy (Nelson) Snorf”, 1991, Tales of the Mojave Road Publishing Company, Goffs Schoolhouse, Essex, CA; 208 pp. Illustrated.]
All the other mines had the same fate. The pockets of high-grade ore proved small, and mining declined as soon as 1909. The largest mine besides the Oro Belle was the Big Chief, originally called the Jumbo, also owned by the Hart brothers. A 10
Stamp mill
A stamp mill (or stamp battery or stamping mill) is a type of Mill (grinding), mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than Mill (grinding), grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking materia ...
was built at this mine. Other mines included the Twin Peaks, the Flyer, the Florence, the Zinc-Graf property, and the Todd Hunter lease.
The ''Enterprise'' and other businesses closed. A fire wiped out much of the
business district
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit."
A business entity is not necessar ...
(largely deserted); the leading mines suspended work and the miners’ union was disbanded. The court district and voting precinct were abolished, and the post office closed in late 1915.
See also
*
Mojave Road
References
Sources
*
*
External links
Hensher 2005*
{{authority control
Mojave National Preserve
Lanfair Valley
Ghost towns in California
Populated places in the Mojave Desert
Mining communities in California
Former settlements in San Bernardino County, California
Populated places established in 1907
Populated places disestablished in 1915
1907 establishments in California
1915 disestablishments in California