| World / USA / California / Furnace Creek | Coordinates: 36°27'27"N 116°52'12"W |
Death Valley National Park headquarters and U.S. Post Office.
Borax mine ruins, Visitor Center et cetera.
Death Valley National Park is a mostly arid national park in Inyo County, California, with a small extension (Devil's Hole) in Nevada. The park covers 5,219 mi² (13,518 km²), encompassing Saline Valley, a large part of Panamint Valley, almost all of Death Valley, and parts of several mountain ranges.
It is the hottest and driest of the national parks in the United States and contains the lowest point in the western hemisphere, some 282 feet (86 m) below sea level, a couple of miles west of Badwater Spring.
This area is home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh desert environment. Examples include Creosote Bush, Bighorn Sheep, Coyote, and the critically endangered Death Valley Pupfish (a survivor of much wetter times.) Approximately 95% of the park is designated as wilderness.
Mining was the primary activity in the area before it was protected. The first known non-Native Americans to enter Death Valley did so in the winter of 1849, thinking they would save some time by taking a shortcut to the gold fields of California.
They were stuck for weeks and in the process gave the Valley its name even though only one of their group actually died within the valley.
Several short-lived boom towns sprung up during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to exploit minor local bonanzas of gold.
The only long-term profitable ore to be mined, however, was borax; a mineral used to make soap and an important industrial compound.
20-Mule Teams were famously used to transport this ore out of the Valley, helping to make it famous and the subject or set of numerous books, radio programs, television series, and movies.
Death Valley National Monument was proclaimed in 1933, placing the area under federal protection.
In 1994, the monument was redesignated a national park, as well as being substantially expanded to include, for example, Saline and Eureka Valleys.
Furnace Creek Ranch-photos on google maps:
wiki.worldflicks.org/furnace_creek_ranch.html .
Category: borax post office valley center death visitor
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