Forgotten Destinations: Darwin Ghost Town

Article and photography by Natasha Petrosova

The semi-ghost town Darwin , that was once the biggest town in the county , sits on the western outskirt of Death Valley in Inyo County, California. The settlement got it start in early 1860 when prospecting expedition led by Dr. E. Darwin French set out from Visalia , Califonia in search of Lost Gunsight Mine and a place that had been referred to as "Silver Mountain".

French's expedition never found the Lost Gunsight Mine or Silver Mountain, but they did discover rich silver outcrops, staked a number of claims and headed back to Visalia to record them. When they returned , they were followed by hundreds of others and soon mines developed and the rugged mining of Coso Junction was born.

More gold, silver, and lead deposits were discovered around 1970 in the Coso range and that resulted in a formation of the New Coso Mining District in 1874. The settlement of Darwin was soon established and named after its early explorer and prospector , Dr. Darwin French. Darwin quickly developed into the main commercial center in the area. Darwin boasted two smelters, some 20 operating mines, a post office, graded streets, a drug store, hotel, three restaurants, and the saloons, a newspaper, 200 frame houses and more than 700 residents. The Defiance Mine was a main producer in the district, but other profitable mines included the Argus-Sterling, Christmas Gift, Lucky Jim, Custer, Independence, Keystone Thompson and the Wonder Mine.

By next year the town was growing strong with more than 1,000 residents. Darwin became the largest town in Inyo County. It's Centennial Celebration on July 4, 1876 was a second largest in the county. The settlement also gained a reputation of rowdy and violent town. Due to its isolation and distance from the county seat of Independence, gunplay, assaults, and stage robberies were common. Despite that , the town still continued to grow with population peaking of about 3,500 residents in 1877. But this did not last for long. The following year a smallpox epidemic swept the community and national economic slowdown hit Darwin hard. Production slowed and mine owners scaled back wages , creating more violence in the community.

In September 1878 the newspaper office closed and the publisher , T.S. Harris, packed up the presses and headed north toward boomtown Bodie. Many miners followed him. However, Independence newspaper reported next month that the town Darwin still had 200-300 residents, four stores, three restaurants, five saloons and a drug store. In April 30, 1879, six months later the arson fire began in the Darwin Hotel which resulted in the loss of 14 businesses, including several stores, offices and the hotel, saloons and the post office.

Even though Darwin shrunk from its former self , it did not completely die. In 1880 there were still about 85 residents that still called Darwin their home. In 1902, however , the post office closed briefly , but would later reopen.

During the early 1900's a rebirth of the mining industry occurred in southern Inyo County when copper, which had earlier been left on the dumps because it was considered worthless, began to be mined in earnest as its value had risen dramatically. In 1907 Senator Tasker L. Oddie of Nevada bought nine claims in the Darwin area, while George Nixon and George Wingfield of Goldfield, Nevada fame also took over some property. At the same time, the Lucky Jim Mine was shipping lead-silver ore to Salt Lake City smelters in Utah. Another smelter opened in nearby Keeler and during the next ten years more mines opened and older ones were re-worked. A new hotel was built, and the town began to show true signs of coming back to life. However , another fire broke in the town in August 1917 and destroyed a service garage, the new hotel, and three homes. In less than a year later, another fire swept down the other side of Main Street destroying more homes and businesses.

In June 1919 the Darwin District , especially Lucky Jim and Christmas Gift Mine were going strong driven by the increase of silver price. Another development occurred on MT. Ophir, when a company town was built to house all the miners needed to work the Wagner & Company mine. In 1926 the Eichbaum toll Road was built through Darwin and into Death Valley, bringing with it tourist cabins and service businesses. By 1927 the Darwin District's future seemed assured, for the area . The area was rich with ores of all metallic materials such as silver, lead, gold, tungsten and copper. However, the mines were shut down during the World War II for the war effort. Production for the area from 1870 to October 1938 reached approximately $3 to $5 million, and some estimate are as high as $7 million by 1945.

In that year the Anaconda Copper Mining Company purchased the principal mines and took over operations there. Darwin became the chief source of lead in California, producing two-thirds of all that commodity used in the state. The total value of all lead, silver, and zinc produced has been put at $15 million.

The Company "Project Darwin LLC“ acquired the Darwin mines and 58 patented mining claims in 1996. The company is looking for investors to re-start the Darwin mines.

Today Darwin is practically a ghost town . On the hillside of Mt. Ophir, about ½ northwest of "downtown," can still be seen the remains of the company camp, including decaying rows of company houses as well as Quonset huts and mill buildings. There are still about 50 residents who live here. Some of those residents are aging hippies and artists from Big Sur , California. Among them is a sculptor James Hunolt. His yard is full of abstract marbles sculptures.

Darwin is one of the few places where people are forced to live without the internet connection. Want to stream movies on Netflix or video-chat on Skype in Darwin? Forget it. Want to surf the Web while talking on the phone? Well, you can't. There is no food, gas or any business in Darwin for that matter. The closest grocery store is about 90 miles away.

"The 2009 economic stimulus package included $7.2 billion to extend broadband Internet to underserved areas. More than $80 million was awarded to a California public-private partnership to build a 553-mile fiber network connecting Barstow, Calif., and Carson City, Nev., along U.S. 395 in the Eastern Sierra.

The Digital 395 project, targeted for completion in mid-2013, would bring "middle mile" broadband infrastructure to communities such as Lone Pine, Bishop and Mammoth Lakes, now served by an overtaxed, unreliable system that's the modern equivalent of tin cans connected with yarn.

In theory, after the government helps build the expensive middle mile, private companies will have an incentive to supply the "last mile" to customers.

Problem is, Darwin needs more than 35 last miles".

References:

Mike Anton: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/12/local/la-me-darwin-20120312