Goodsprings Mining District 1856-1957

This district held the greatest variety of minerals in Nevada. The ore went unworked until 1856, when Mormons opened the Potosí mine—perhaps the oldest underground mine in the state—and the springs area, named for cattleman Joseph Good, grew into the town of Goodsprings. The Los Angeles–Salt Lake Railroad in 1905 and the narrow-gauge Yellow Pine line from Jean in 1911 cut shipping costs for the local zinc, and the peak came in 1916, when eight hundred people lived here. All told the district produced twenty-five million dollars, mostly in lead and zinc. Goodsprings is a quiet near-ghost town today.

What the plaque says

Ore deposits readily recognized in the faulted and folded limestone deposits of this district remained unworked until 1856, when the Mormons developed a single lead mine at Potosi, probably the oldest lode mine in Nevada. Named for cattleman Joseph Good, the open springs area was developed into the mining-ranching community of Goodsprings by A.G. Campbell. With completion of the Los Angeles-Salt Lake Railroad in 1905 and the narrow-gauge Yellow Pine Railroad from Jean to Goodsprings in 1911, transportation costs of the oxidized zinc minerals were reduced. The peak year of operations was reached in 1916, and Goodsprings then had 800 residents. This district, with the greatest variety of valuable minerals in Nevada, produced a total of $25 million primarily in lead and zinc, with lesser amounts of gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, vanadium, nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium and uranium.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Oatman — 21 mi
  A gold camp in the Black Mountains that outlived its mines, now run by wild burros — reached by the wildest switchbacks left on Route 66, and named for a history worth telling straight.
• Needles — 24 mi
  Route 66's Colorado River gateway into California, anchored by El Garces, the Harvey House that Mojave hands built.
• Goffs — 27 mi
  A near-ghost on the pre-1931 Route 66 alignment, keeper of a 1914 desert schoolhouse and a WWII Army camp.

More markers nearby

• The Camel Corps — steps away
• The Garcés Expedition — 5.7 mi
• Von Schmidt State Boundary Monument — 11 mi
• Von Schmidt State Boundary Monument — 11 mi