Barren, harsh and remote, the ghost town at Kindergarten Gold Mine greets you with a cemetery at its entry, a stark reminder of the perils the come with mining in the 1900's and 1910's. On July 18, 1912 a flash flood took the lives of some 8 inhabitants, half of which were children.
About a dozen buildings remain from what was once a town of 300 complete with 4 saloons, a school district and a post office. Keep in mind that once gold ran out, people relocated to prospect the next mine and they took the valuable timber their town was built with when they left. The Kindergarten Mill was built for $25,000 with lumber from nearby abandoned mines in order to save on cost.
An idea of how remote the town was...
An omen.
An old grizzly used to sift overburden.
What appeared to be a central building with many rooms.
One of four saloons....
This one was Tequila Junction
A miners view.
Relics still on the walls.
Wish I had a better camera here, what a great photo.
A 5-stamp mill head, this was 10-stamp mill so there must have been two at some point.
Wooden fly wheel driven by a belt.
Not sure what this is, but its substantial.
Likely the generator building.
Clothes still hanging in storage shed.
A bunk house near the upper workings.
Explorers predating me etched their names in wood.
Watch where you step on an early fall day, the cool weather has the rattlers out.
Kindergarten mine supposedly connected to one of the many mines in this canyon some 2+ miles on the other side of the mountain.
One of many portals.
While unable to locate the portal to this mine, given the size of its monumental tailings pile, I surmised that this must have been the mine that connected to Kindergarten Mine.
Heeding the states advice today.
Baby collard lizards are much easier to catch than adults.
Found this in the middle of nowhere, no mine nearby. Nitro storage?
Monster and I mean monster 3-story ore bin near tailings at Kindergarten Mine.
Cabin built into hillside for insulation.
1 comments:
Very cool- thanks for sharing-- I need to get out and see some of this stuff, it's been years.
cheers,
--Brian J.
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