Kearsarge (ghost town), California
Encyclopedia
Kearsarge or Kearsarge City is a former settlement in Inyo County
, California
. It was located high up on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains 8 miles (12.9 km) west of the modern-day town of Independence, California
. Kearsarge was the name of the Mining District and the mining camp, located just below the 12621 ft (3,846.9 m) high granite Kearsarge Peak and east of the Kearsarge Pass. Kearsarge was named after the Union man-of-war U.S.S. Kearsarge
, which had recently sunk the Confederate ship, CSS Alabama
, off the coast of France.
On the side of the then unnamed mountain in the fall of 1864 five woodcutters discovered a vein of rich silver and gold ore. The men staked their claims to Kearsarge, Silver Sprout, and Virginia Mines, and dug and shipped four tons of ore to a mill in Nevada, receiving $900 a ton. The news of location of their mine leaked out, and the Kearsarge Mining District and mining camp of the same name was established high up on the slope of the mountain below the mines.
Several mine investors, purchased the three main silver claims, forming the Kearsarge Mining Company. These new owners drove a 50 ft (15.2 m) tunnel into the southeast side of the mountain, by August 1865, reaching $650+ per ton ore.
After a winter of heavy snows, on the afternoon of March 1st, 1866 an avalanche swept away most of the town and some of the population, killing the wife of the mine foreman and injuring several men. A camp was relocated to a safer site nearby but most of the towns population left, except the miners who continued to operate the mines and a mill that was installed that summer. The Rex Montis mine, which became the principal gold source in the District, was worked on a large scale from 1875 to 1883.
Kearsarge was mostly abandoned by 1888, the mill removed and with little else remaining, but it was occupied on and off as attempts were later made to revive the mines with little success.
Inyo County, California
-National protected areas:* Death Valley National Park * Inyo National Forest * Manzanar National Historic Site-Major highways:* U.S. Route 6* U.S. Route 395* State Route 127* State Route 136* State Route 168* State Route 178...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It was located high up on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains 8 miles (12.9 km) west of the modern-day town of Independence, California
Independence, California
Independence is the county seat of Inyo County, California. Independence is located south-southeast of Bishop, at an elevation of 3930 feet . The population of this census-designated place was 669 at the 2010 census, up from 574 at the 2000 census....
. Kearsarge was the name of the Mining District and the mining camp, located just below the 12621 ft (3,846.9 m) high granite Kearsarge Peak and east of the Kearsarge Pass. Kearsarge was named after the Union man-of-war U.S.S. Kearsarge
USS Kearsarge (1861)
USS Kearsarge, a Mohican-class sloop-of-war, is best known for her defeat of the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama during the American Civil War. The Kearsarge was the only ship of the United States Navy named for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire...
, which had recently sunk the Confederate ship, CSS Alabama
CSS Alabama
CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead, United Kingdom, in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company. Alabama served as a commerce raider, attacking Union merchant and naval ships over the course of her two-year career, during which she never anchored in...
, off the coast of France.
On the side of the then unnamed mountain in the fall of 1864 five woodcutters discovered a vein of rich silver and gold ore. The men staked their claims to Kearsarge, Silver Sprout, and Virginia Mines, and dug and shipped four tons of ore to a mill in Nevada, receiving $900 a ton. The news of location of their mine leaked out, and the Kearsarge Mining District and mining camp of the same name was established high up on the slope of the mountain below the mines.
Several mine investors, purchased the three main silver claims, forming the Kearsarge Mining Company. These new owners drove a 50 ft (15.2 m) tunnel into the southeast side of the mountain, by August 1865, reaching $650+ per ton ore.
After a winter of heavy snows, on the afternoon of March 1st, 1866 an avalanche swept away most of the town and some of the population, killing the wife of the mine foreman and injuring several men. A camp was relocated to a safer site nearby but most of the towns population left, except the miners who continued to operate the mines and a mill that was installed that summer. The Rex Montis mine, which became the principal gold source in the District, was worked on a large scale from 1875 to 1883.
Kearsarge was mostly abandoned by 1888, the mill removed and with little else remaining, but it was occupied on and off as attempts were later made to revive the mines with little success.
External Links
- 1871 Lithograph of the Kearsarge Mining Works, Kearsarge District, from David Rumsey Historical Map Collection website, accessed September 27, 2011.
- Gary B. Speck, HI HO SILVER; KEARSARGE, Inyo Co., CA, Ghost Town USA website, May 2001.
- Rex Montis Mine from owensvalleyhistory.com website, accessed September 27, 2011.