Rand Mining District

The Mojave named itself after South Africa. Singleton, Burcham and Mooers found the Yellow Aster in April 1895, and the camp that grew around it took its name from the Witwatersrand, then the richest goldfield on earth; the supply town that followed in 1896 called itself Johannesburg. The comparison was the highest praise available. The bronze carries the district on into tungsten at Atolia and the 1919 silver strike at Red Mountain, though both of those lie across the line in San Bernardino County. The plaque stands at the museum in Randsburg.

What the plaque says

Rand Mining District The Yellow Aster, or Rand, mine was discovered in April, 1895 by Singleton, Burcham and Mooers. The town of Randsburg quickly developed, followed by the supply town of Johannesburg in 1896. Both names were adopted from the profusion of minerals resembling those of the Rand Mining District in South Africa. In 1907 Churchill discovered tungsten at Atolia, used in steel alloy during World War I. In June, 1919 Williams and Nosser discovered the famous California Rand Silver Mine at Red Mountain. California Historical Landmark Plaque placed by the Kern County Historical Society, the El Tejon Parlor No. 239, N.D.G.W., the Bakersfield Parlor No. 42, N.S.G.W., and the Kern County Museum. June 7, 1964

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Trona Pinnacles — 23 mi
  More than five hundred tufa spires standing on a dry Pleistocene lakebed outside Ridgecrest.

More markers nearby

• Garlock — 8.0 mi
• Desert Spring — 17 mi
• Freeman Junction — 21 mi
• Indian Wells — 24 mi