Ashford Mills, Death Valley, California
N 35° 54.541 W 116° 40.490
11S E 529340 N 3973906
From 1914 until 1941, gold ore from the Golden Treasure Mine, five miles to the east was processed in this tiny Death Valley settlement for shipment to a smelter.
Waymark Code: WMP42
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/01/2006
Views: 103
The Ashford Brothers- Henry, Harold, and Louis discovered the Golden Treasure Mine in 1907. In 1914 they leased the mine out and a 40 ton mill was built to process the ore. The story goes that twice the amount of cement was delivered than was ordered, since the cost of returning the cement was higher than what the cement was worth, the extra cement was used to build very thick walls on the mill. In 1915 a road was built from the mill up Ashford canyon to the mine.
The house is not much good anymore, but the view is worth a million dollars! . . .
The mine employed up to 28 men and then all at once the mine shut down. The lease payments had not been made so Ashford's brought suit and regained control of the mine. The mine was idle till about 1926, then it was worked sporadically and then it was leased out again in 1935 to the Golden Treasure Company who also eventually gave up. The mine went through another a series of lessors but the mine never produced much paying ore and by 1941 was idle.
The ruins are located in the south of Death Valley National Park near Ashford Junction. for more on Death Valley, visit
my website.
For mor on the ghost town of Ashford Mill, visit ghosttowns.com.