Death Valley Junction Historic District
Posted by: 
rambles
N 36° 18.061 W 116° 24.891
11S E 552537 N 4017495
Death Valley Junction was built in the 1920s as a mining town owned by the Pacific Borax Company. Today it's owned by the Amargosa Opera House, Inc., to save the pictures painted in the old recreation house by Marta Becket.
Waymark Code: WM31BE
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/24/2008
Views: 55
In the 1920s Pacific Borax Company built a company town with offices, stores, dormitories, a hotel and a recreation hall. In 1967 Marta Becket started rented the recreation hall and started painting the walls and ceilings with an opera house including amazing people from the 16th century.
The Amargosa Opera House, Inc. bought the whole town to save what was now called the Amargosa Opera House and the Amargosa Hotel. They are both in use today on a limited basis. If not for this the town would just be a junction with buildings that were falling down and deserted.
It's a major entryway to Death Valley National Park and a pleasure to see after driving through many empty miles to get there.
Street address:
CA-190 and CA-127
Death Valley Junction, CA USA
County / Borough / Parish: Inyo
Year listed: 1980
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering, Person
Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949
Historic function: Hotel, domestic
Current function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Education, Recreation And Culture
Privately owned?: yes
Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2008 To: 12/31/2008
Hours of operation: From: 10:00 AM To: 4:00 PM
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 2: [Web Link]
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.