Chloride City, California

 interesting place, ghost town, historic ruins

Chloride City is one of Death Valley's earliest towns. Silver-lead ore deposits were found here in 1871 by August Franklin and the town site sprang up to support the Chloride Cliff Mine. The site took off with a second boom in the spring of 1905 during the Bullfrog boom and the camp consisted of a blacksmith shop, an assay office, a cookhouse, a bunkhouse, and the mine superintendent's house.

By November 1905 three companies were formed; The Bullfrog Cliff Mining Company, The Mucho Mining Company, and the Death Valley Mining and Milling Company in addition to Franklin's Chloride Cliff Company from 1872.

The first road through Death Valley was constructed from Chloride City to San Bernardino which was the nearest town 180 miles away. In the 1870's Franklin hauled his ore using trains of pack mules which would return carrying food and supplies to the camp. The road left Chloride City and plunged down to Death Valley and continued south across the salt flats to the west side of the valley to exit via Wingate Wash and picked up highway 395 south to the 15.

www.ghosttownexplorers.org/california/ccliff/ccity.htm
www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/deva/section4b...