Chloride, Arizona/USA
N 35° 24.841 W 114° 12.396
11S E 753645 N 3922542
The town of Chloride is a onetime silver mining camp in Mohave County, Arizona. It was officially a ghost town by 1944, but has been reinhabited and now boasts a population of 352.
Waymark Code: WM3J19
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 04/09/2008
Views: 39
The following information is posted on the
Legends of America website:
Chloride - A Ghost Town and Then Some
Chloride, Arizona has a rich mining rich history beginning in the 1860s. Today, it is the oldest inhabited mining town in the state of Arizona, still called home to about 150 full time residents. Between 1900 and 1920, some 75 mines were in operation in the area. Officially a ghost town, Chloride sports a couple of quirky attractions, in addition to its historic buildings and rich mining past.
During the counterculture period of the 1960s, a band of hippies led by a man named Roy Purcell made their home in the hills just east of Chloride. During their stay, Roy painted what are now known as the "Chloride Murals" -- 2000 square feet of rock paintings on the boulders and cliff faces of the Cerbat Mountains. Over the years, this now famous artist, has returned to redo them several times. In this same are are also a scattering of ancient petroglyphs.
Inside town, Chloride also boasts a numerous yard art displays. As told to us by the kind lady at the tourism office, these range from "yard art" to "yard junk." Unable to have gardens in the desert heat, Chloride's residents have resorted to decorations ranging from artistic to trashy.
Chloride is an interesting drive through ghost town buildings from the past, to hippy murals from the 60's, to eccentric yard art of today.