Chloride is the closest town to SIRG's Chloride

Message Board

Previous

| Next

Post# of 4018

Posted On: 08/03/2012 6:30:54 PM

Posted By: Lmcat

Chloride is the closest town to SIRG's Chloride Copper Mine.

During the 1840s prospectors began to canvas the area that was to become Chloride for any sign of precious minerals and in the early 1860s they stumbled upon several rich silver veins on a site they called Silver Hill. Later they would find other riches including, gold, lead, zinc, copper and turquoise in the area. The mining camp of Chloride was founded around 1863, but despite the vast riches of the district, it grew slowly due to the hostile Hualapai Indians. Several mining camps were started in the Cerbat Mountains after the treaty including Mineral Park, Cerbat and Chloride. They are again mining copper at Mineral Park today and the Chloride Copper Mine will return to production in early 2013.

The Butterfield Stage Line began to service Chloride and the surrounding area in 1868. In the late 1860s the U.S. Army began to subdue the Hualapai and by the early 1870s a treaty was signed with the Indians, clearing the path for extensive mining.

It was during this decade that the population began to escalate and in 1873 a post office was built. Soon, all manner of new business began to spring up in Chloride. In 1898, the Sante Fe Railroad extended its tracks from Kingman to Chloride, dramatically reducing the costs for ore and supply shipments. Just two years later the town boasted a population of 2,000, supported primarily by two major mines, the Tennessee and the Schuykill. Both these mines would produce gold, silver, lead and zinc on a major scale up into the late 1940s.

Chloride’s peak years were between 1900 and 1920, when some 75 mines were in operation in the area. In 1910, the railway was again extended directly to the Tennessee Mine, the largest in the area. With the coming of the railroad, Butterfield’s Stage Line finally discontinued service in 1919. By the 1930s, the richest mine in the area was the Golconda, located between Kingman and Chloride. It has been estimated that the Golconda produced six and a half million dollars in ore. Later on, the Tennessee Silver Mine surpassed the Golconda in total ore produced.

Today the town of Chloride still lies in the shadows of the Cerbat Mountains. Climb them and from the top you can see four states, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California! Chloride enjoys 350 days of sunshine a year!

Today, Chloride is a peaceful community of approximately 250 people. The residents are active, semi-retired, retired, business people, families and artists who enjoy a relaxed lifestyle in the village. Some say Chloride doesn't have any ordinary people living here - just characters! That may be true!

http://www.chlorideaz.com/history.html

A few miles off the main highway and many miles back in time. It is a small village of 250 people with 1 motel with full service restaurant & bar, 1 convenience store and several gift shops. Dining at Yesterdays Restaurant can range from hamburgers to Oso Bucco, with nightly entertainment.

Site of the Roy Purcell Murals! Roy Purcell, now of Tubac, AZ, formerly of Chloride, AZ and Henderson, NV. Roy is best known for his innovative etchings, though he uses sculpture, watercolor, oil, pastel, glass, wood, paper and many found objects for his art. People around Chloride know him for his murals on the granite faces of a canyon in the Cerbat mountains east through Chloride.

Ghost Town for all intents and purposes, Chloride is a ghost town that never really died...almost, but not quite! There are ghosts of buildings that used to be lived in, ghosts of mines that used to be producing minerals, and ghosts of people that used to live here. Every now and then we get a report of the last type of ghost. There is a ghost miner sighting just every now and then.

Yard Art! Chloride may have the largest collection of yard art anywhere..we're not really sure, but there is a lot of it. Sometimes in someplaces you have green grass and flowers, but here (we don't have much water) we have yard art! It may look like junk to some people, but it is all in the eye of the beholder. Some of this stuff is really very clever. It is referred to by some as sculptural metal.

Tractors! We have a very large collection of old tractors here in Chloride, this one couple have over 30 of these old vehicles .

Gunfights! Well, mock gunfights! July and August, we have a gunfight at high noon every 1st and 3rd Saturday. The rest of the year, we have a gunfight every Saturday. We have 2 gunfighter groups, the Black Mountain Gunfighters and the Wild Roses.

The Butterfield Stage & Sante Fe Railroad used to come through Chloride. There is an old train depot but it isn't open for business or tours.

Mines! At one time we had over 72 mines operating here in Chloride and you can see the remains of a lot of them on the mountains. Some enjoy climbing around these old shafts, tunnels and tailings; but do so at your own risk. Some of these have had no maintenance in years. Most of these mines are private property and not open to actual "tours." People find metal detecting and rock hounding around these sites to be quite entertaining. The old Duval mine is still active in a new incarnation. It was recently purchased and new mining is taking place for the first time in years. This mine is located 4 miles south of Chloride on Mineral Park Road and they are after copper.

Gift Shops & Silversmith! We have three of the finest stores in Mohave County right here in Chloride. Van Meter Silver Smithing, Purcell Galleries, and Free Spirit Arizona - Gift Shop and Gallery. Hermi Van Meter makes most of the jewelry in the display cases and is a world class silver-smith. Bob Van Meter does custom design jewelry and takes care of customers and the business in general. They have a wide range of beautiful items in their store, including book ends of onyx and petrified wood, fossils, onyx bowls, onyx apples, etc. Van Meter is at the top (east end) of Tennessee Street (County Road 125 is the road that you came into into the village from US 93 on, after you cross the cattle guard at the village limits it becomes Tennessee.) You have to pass Van Meters on your way to the murals. Stop in and say hello. They like to answer questions and visit with people about Chloride. Speaking of the murals, Roy Purcell who painted the murals & is an acclaimed painter has a gallery here. There are also several other shops in town, sometimes open on weekends or whenever the spirit moves the owners.

Camping! Above Chloride up the Big Wash Road to the top of the Cerbat Mountains, there are two camp grounds known as Windy Point and Pack Saddle.

Trails, trails, trails! There are hiking trails, mountain biking trails, ATV trails, jeep trails (4 x 4) horse back riding trails. You bring the gear, Chloride has the trails.

Nature Lovers will find animals of all kinds here and about: Mule deer, cotton tail rabbits, jack rabbits, fox, bobcats, coyotes, etc. We see them often enough that no one local has photos!

Petroglyphs are in the mountains around Chloride.

Photo Opportunities This is a wonderful place for photography of nature and other things. The subject matter is almost limitless.

Star Gazing There are not many lights to spoil the night time skies, making star gazing another great possibility. A good part of the year the Milky Way is overhead.

http://www.chlorideaz.com/visitchloride.html