Blackwater Well Ranch

 NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, cattle ranch, historic ruins

Human use and occupation in the area of Blackwater Well spans a period from 1200 BC to the present. The well itself is the result of a naturally occurring seep created by the Blackwater Fault. The year-round water source provided a focal point for use by local aboriginal peoples that may have continued until the 1820s.

Blackwater Well served as a "wet stop" along the 20 Mule Team Borax Wagon Road created by the Pacific Borax Company in 1883 to haul borax from mines in Death Valley to the railhead at Mohave. Cattle ranching activities began in the area in the late 1800s.

The Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee dismantled the ranch buildings, capped the well, and pulled the windmill down. According to the BLM, this was in violation of the terms of sale.

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