Historical Marker · No. 193
Picacho Mines
Winterhaven, Imperial County · California
Erected by State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with Squibob Chapter, E Clampus Vitus and the Imperial Valley Pioneers Historical Society, dedicated April 20, 1985, 1985
This is a landmark plaque about a working mine. Dedicated in 1985, it reports that Picacho resumed operations the year before, which is not how these bronzes usually end. Placer men started here after 1852 and the shafts followed the veins by 1872; seven hundred worked the ground between 1895 and 1900. What killed it the first time was the river. Laguna Dam ended cheap steamboat freight on the Colorado, and a low-grade ore body a long way from anywhere stopped paying.
What the plaque says
Picacho Mines Opened by placer miners after 1852, the gold mines expanded into hard rock quarrying by 1872. Picacho employed 700 miners at its peak from 1895 to 1900. Mill accidents, low ore quality, and the loss of cheap river transport with the building of Laguna Dam led to numerous periods of inactivity. With ores far from worked out, the Picacho Mines, using modern techniques, again resumed operations in 1984. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 193 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with Squibob Chapter, E Clampus Vitus and the Imperial Valley Pioneers Historical Society. Dedicated April 20, 1985.
Where it stands
32.97190, -114.63517 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Site of Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer — 13 mi
- Tumco Mines — 15 mi
- Fort Yuma — 17 mi
- Mission La Purísima Concepción (Site of) — 17 mi