Mineral City was a

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

landing and

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

crossing on the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

in La Paz County,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, United States from 1863 to 1866. It was located on the east bank of the Colorado River, one mile below its rival Olive City and mile below the original site of Ehrenberg and miles above its current site. Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978

History

In the fall of 1863, Mineral City developed as another landing for steamboats on the Colorado River, located one mile downstream from Olive City, which was the landing for the La Paz mines. This point was where the recently created freight wagon road known as the Bradshaw Trail across the desert from

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

crossed the river at Bradshaw's Ferry. In 1866, a new landing was established between Olive City and Mineral City, with the support of two captains of the steamboat company of George A. Johnson & Company. Mineral City became the name of this larger settlement, resulting in the abandonment of Olive City and by 1870 La Paz also. Mineral City received its post office in 1869, but the name of the post office, along with that of the town, was changed to Ehrenberg.John and Lillian Theobald, ''Arizona Territory Post Offices & Postmasters'', The Arizona Historical Foundation, Phoenix, 1961.

References

{{Steamboats of the Colorado River Ghost towns in Arizona Former populated places in La Paz County, Arizona Port cities and towns in Arizona Steamboat transport on the Colorado River 1863 establishments in Arizona Territory Bradshaw Trail La Paz–Wikenburg Road

History

See also

References