Hart, California

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Hart was a short-lived gold mining town located in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It existed between 1908 and 1915.

View of Hart in 1908, looking northwest

The Northern Club, 1908.

1 Location
2 History
3 References
4 External Links

[edit] Location

Hart was located at 35° 17' 20" -115° 6' 12" (WGS84).

[edit] History

In late 1907, while a depression was sweeping the nation,3 prospectors from Goldfield - James Hart and the brothers Bert and Clark Hitt - found pockets of rich gold ore in the Castle Mountains, about 4 miles south of the Barnwell & Searchlight Railroad.

In early 1908, prospectors swarmed to the strike in automobiles and wagons, on bicycles and burros. During the next few months, a camp was thrown up, a telephone line was strung to Barnwell, a weekly newspaper, the Enterprise, started up, a voting precinct and justice-court township were created, and a post office was established.

By summer, Hart’s 400 residents were served by 2 large hotels and a rooming house, 2 general stores, a bookstore, a real-estate office, a candy store, 2 lumberyards, a bakery, 8 saloons, telephone and telegraph service, and a water line.

A businessmen’s league limited the sale of liquor, enforced police and fire regulations, and ousted gamblers and toughs. A miners’ union, meanwhile, was organized, and a 10-stamp mill was built at one of the 3 leading mines.

But the pockets of high-grade ore proved too small, and mining apparently declined during 1909. The Enterprise and other businesses closed; a fire wiped out much of the busioess district (largely deserted); the leading mines suspended work and the miners’ union was disbanded; the court district and voting precinct were abolished; and, finally, the post office closed in late 1915.

[edit] References

Hensher, Alan, 2005, The Historical Mining Towns of the Eastern Mojave Desert in Robert E. Reynolds editor, Old Ores, Mining History in the Eastern Mojave Desert: California State Uiversity, Desert Studies Consortium and LSA Associates, Inc. pages 22-27

Vredenburgh, L.M., Shumway, G.L., Hartill, R.D., 1981, Desert Fever, an overview of mining in the California Desert (Living West Press: Canoga Park, CA).