Goodsprings Mining District 1856 1957
Clark County, Clark County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Goodsprings Mining District 1856 1957. Ore deposits readily recognized in the faulted and folded limestone deposits of this district remained unworked until 1856, when Mormons began work at Potosí, establishing perhaps the oldest underground 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 local oxidized zinc minerals were reduced. The peak year of operations was reached in 1916 when Goodsprings had 800 residents.This district, with the greatest variety of 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.
Erected by Southern Nevada Historical Society
The Story
The folded limestone of this district held ore that went unworked until the mid-1850s, when Mormon settlers opened work at Potosi, among the earliest underground mines in Nevada. Named for cattleman Joseph Good, the springs grew into the ranching-and-mining community of Goodsprings, and the arrival of the Los Angeles-Salt Lake Railroad in 1905 and a narrow-gauge feeder line in 1911 cut the cost of shipping its zinc ores. Operations peaked in 1916 with some eight hundred residents, and the district—unusually rich in minerals—ultimately produced about twenty-five million dollars, chiefly in lead and zinc.
Why it matters
Goodsprings ties together the Mormon push into the Southwest, the cattle frontier, and the railroad-driven mining economy, showing how transportation turned a remote ore body into a productive district.
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Related people
- · Joseph Good
- · A.G. Campbell
Themes & tags
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