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913-708-5119
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 NEVADA
LEGENDS
Searchlight Lives On |
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Searchlight,
Nevada, 1910, photo by West Coast Art Co.
This image available for
photographic prints and downloads
HERE!
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About an hour south of
Las Vegas is the old mining camp
and revived town of Searchlight,
Nevada. It all began when G.F. Colton
discovered gold in 1897 and soon started the Duplex Mine. The next year,
the Searchlight Mining District was founded and a post office was
established at the camp. The origin of the town’s name has been
speculated about for years, with some saying it came from a box of
matches, while others claim it originated with the searchlights that
were used to guide patrons into the brothels of the area.
As word spread, the camp and its
surrounding area as flooded with miners. In 1900, the Quartette Mining
Company was formed, which would become the mainstay of the mining district,
producing almost half of the area's total output. Two years later, the
company built a 16-mile narrow-gauge railroad from the mines down the hill
to its mill on the Colorado River. Boasting some 1,500 people in 1902, it
was the largest town in the area boasting numerous claims and mines.
Continuing to grow, the community was
called home to some 5,000 residents by its peak year of 1907, at which time
it had 44 working mines, a telephone exchange, and numerous businesses
including over a dozen saloons. However, that very same year, mining began
to suffer as the
quality and quantity of gold ore declined, which required additional capital
to operate the mines.
That same year, on March 31, 1907, the
23 mile Barnwell and Searchlight Railroad connected the town with the Santa
Fe line to Needles, California and beyond. Though transportation problems
for the ore had been solved, the mines were continuing to decline. By 1919,
the train was running to Searchlight only two times per week and when a
flood washed out the tracks in September 1923, train service was never
restored.
People began to leave the area in masses
and by 1927, there were only about 50 people left in the town. Mining
revived for a short time when a new mill was built in 1934, but just a year
later, it was closed due to lack of ore. Total production throughout
Searchlight’s hey day years was approximately $4.5 million in ore.
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Over the decades as recreational
opportunities along the Colorado River began to be developed, Searchlight
became a tourist and retirement community. Today, the small community,
called the Gateway to Lake Mohave, sits just 14 miles up the hill from
beautiful Cottonwood Cove, one of the best Large Mouth Bass fisheries in the
American West. The Cottonwood Cove Resort and Marina are located inside Lake
Mead National Recreation Area.
The town now supports about 800 people,
of which about have are retirees. Though the small city is filled with
fishermen, water enthusiasts, and nature lovers, it still also provides a
peek at its mining past in a number of old buildings, head frames, mining
remnants, and at the Searchlight Historic Museum and Historic Mining Park.
The museum, open year-round is located at 200 Michael Wendoll Way.
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An old mine just north of Searchlight,
Nevada,
April, 2008, Kathy Weiser.
This image available for
photographic prints and
downloads
HERE!
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Searchlight is situated in the Colorado
River Basin in Clark County,
Nevada, at U.S. 95 and NV-164, midway between
Las Vegas and Laughlin.
©
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, April, 2008.
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An old miner's cabin in Searchlight, Kathy
Weiser, April, 2008.
This image available for
photographic prints and
downloads
HERE!
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Searchlight today, Kathy Weiser, April, 2008.
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Book your
lodging right
HERE online!
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An old headframe sits high upon a hill in
Searchlight,
Nevada, Kathy
Weiser, April, 2008.
This image available for
photographic prints and
downloads
HERE!
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Join our
Ghost Town Forum
for information, questions, and Ghost Town experiences!
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Great American Bars and Saloons
 By
Kathy Weiser
Owner/Editor of Legends of America
Kathy Weiser's first venture into the publishing world takes you into the
many watering holes of America's past, particularly the numerous
saloons
that sprouted up during our nation's
Wild West
days. This great
photographic review displays hundreds of
vintage photographs from
California
to
Arizona, the mining camps of
Colorado, all the way to New
York and its turbulent days of
Prohibition.
Hardcover, 2006, 224 Pages.
Signed by the author!!
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