Skidoo | |
---|---|
Nickname: 23 Skidoo | |
Coordinates: 36°26′08″N117°08′51″W / 36.43556°N 117.14750°W | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
County | Inyo County |
Elevation | 5,689 ft (1,734 m) |
Skidoo | |
Location | Death Valley National Park, Wildrose District, California |
Area | 4,160 acres (1,680 ha) |
Built | 1906 |
NRHP reference No. | 74000349 |
Added to NRHP | April 16, 1974 [2] |
Skidoo (formerly, Hoveck) [3] was an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. [1] The geographical location of the old town site lies at an elevation of 5,689 feet (1734 m). [1] Skidoo is a ghost town located in Death Valley National Park. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. [4]
Skidoo is representative of the boom towns that flourished in Death Valley during the early 20th century. The town's livelihood depended primarily on the output of the Skidoo Mine, a venture operating between 1906 and 1917. During those years the mine produced about 75,000 ounces of gold, worth at the time more than $1.5 million. Two unique items are associated with Skidoo's mining heyday. First the town possessed the only milling plant in the desert operated almost completely by water power. Second, the construction of the water pipeline was a phenomenal engineering feat; its scar can still be seen between its origin near Telescope Peak and the mill site.
The fifteen-stamp amalgamation and cyanide mill built by the Skidoo Mines Company is a rare surviving example of an early 20th-century gravity-feed system for separating gold from its ore. [5]
The name Skidoo comes from the expression 23 skidoo , a slang expression of the time, for which various origins [6] have been suggested.
The Hoveck post office opened in 1906, changed its name to Skidoo in 1907, and closed in 1917. [3] The name Hoveck honored Matt Hoveck, manager of the Skidoo Mine. [3]
Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe, and 12 mi (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8,379 feet (2554 m). Bodie became a boom town in 1876 after the discovery of a profitable vein of gold; by 1879 it had established 2,000 structures with a population of roughly 8,000 people.
Stovepipe Wells is a way-station in the northern part of Death Valley, in unincorporated Inyo County, California.
The Panamint Range is a short rugged fault-block mountain range in the northern Mojave Desert, within Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, eastern California. A small part of the southern end of the range is in San Bernardino County. Dr. Darwin French is credited as applying the term Panamint in 1860 during his search for the fabled Gunsight Lode.
Panamint City is a ghost town in the Panamint Range, near Death Valley, in Inyo County, California, US. It is also known by the official Board of Geographic Names as Panamint. Panamint was a boom town founded after silver and copper were found there in 1872. By 1874, the town had a population of about 2,000. Its main street was one mile (1.6 km) long. Panamint had its own newspaper, the Panamint News. Silver was the principal product mined in the area. The town is located about three miles northwest of Sentinel Peak. According to the National Geographic Names Database, NAD27 latitude and longitude for the locale are 36°07′06″N117°05′43″W, and the feature ID number is 1661185. The elevation of this location is identified as being 6,280 feet AMSL. The similar-sounding Panamint Springs, California, is located about 25.8 miles at 306.4 degrees off true north near Panamint Junction.
Belmont is a ghost town in Nye County, Nevada, United States along former State Route 82. The town is a historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is Nevada Historical Marker number 138.
Laws is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. Laws is located 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Bishop on U.S. Route 6, towards the Nevada state line.
Leadfield was an unincorporated community, and historic mining town in Inyo County, California. It is now a ghost town. It is located in Titus Canyon in the Grapevine Mountains, east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park. Leadfield lies at an elevation of 4,058 ft (1,237 m). It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Chloride City is a ghost town in Inyo County, California, United States. It is located 8.5 miles (14 km) north-northeast of Beatty Junction, at an elevation of 4,770 ft (1,450 m). The former settlement is in Death Valley National Park.
Greenwater was an unincorporated community near Death Valley located in the eastern side of the Inyo County, California. It is now a deserted ghost town.
Picacho is an unincorporated community in Imperial County, California. It is located on the Colorado River 29 miles (47 km) south-southeast of Palo Verde, at an elevation of 203 feet.
The Cerro Gordo Mines are a collection of abandoned mines located in Cerro Gordo in the Inyo Mountains, Inyo County, near Lone Pine, California. Mining operations spanned 1866 to 1957, producing high grade silver, lead, and zinc ore; and, more rarely, gold ore and copper ore. Some ore was smelted on site, but larger capacity smelters were eventually constructed along the shore of nearby Owens Lake.
The Keane Wonder Mine and mill is an abandoned mining facility located within Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, California. It is located in the Funeral Mountains east of Death Valley and Furnace Creek, California
The Keys Ranch is the prime example of early settlement in the Joshua Tree National Park area. Bill Keys was the area's leading character, and his ranch is a symbol of the resourcefulness of early settlers. The ranch is an extensive complex of small frame buildings built between 1910 and Keys' death in 1964. Keys pursued both ranching and mining to make a living in the desert.
The Harmony Borax Works is located in Death Valley at Furnace Creek Springs, then called Greenland. It is now located within Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, California. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ashford Mill is a former mill in Inyo County, California. It was located in Death Valley, at an elevation of 121 feet below sea level. The place is now protected ruins within Death Valley National Park.
Beveridge is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. It lies at an elevation of 5587 feet. Beveridge began as a mining town. The name honors John Beveridge.
Crater was an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. It is located in the Last Chance Range 19 miles (31 km) northwest of Ubehebe Crater, at an elevation of 5305 feet.
Ryan is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California that is now privately owned and stewarded by the Death Valley Conservancy. A former mining community and company town, Ryan is situated at an elevation of 3,045 feet (928 m) in the Amargosa Range, and is 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Dante's View and 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Furnace Creek.
Reilly is a former settlement in Inyo County, California. It was located on the west side of the Panamint Valley, at an elevation of 2582 feet. Reilly was a silver mining community in the late 19th century.
The Saline Valley salt tram is located in Inyo County, California, United States. The electric aerial tramway was constructed from 1911 to 1913 to carry salt from the Saline Valley over the Inyo Mountains and into the Owens Valley. Covering a distance of 13.4 mi (21.6 km), it operated sporadically from 1913 to 1935 for four different companies. During its operation, it was the steepest tram in the United States.