Ballarat - California Ghost Town

BALLARAT

NAME: Ballarat
COUNTY: Inyo
ROADS: 2WD
GRID #(see map): 3
CLIMATE: Mild winter, hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Winter, fall, spring

COMMENTS: Near Panamint City
REMAINS: A few remanants.

Gold was discovered in Australia two years after the California gold rush of 1849. The discovery was made in Ballarat, Victoria, in the southeast part of Australia. It was there, in 1869, that the largest nugget in the world was found. It weighed almost 143 pounds. The prospectors who founded the town in the Panamint Valley of California probably thought it would bring them luck. It did not. The land was harsh and barren offering little except sagebrush. There were no trees or water or anything of substance necessary for survival. Everything needed to be brought in from great distances away. There was no timber for houses and other buildings. Ballarat was a town literally built from adobe bricks. Even under such extreme conditions, there were several dance halls and, of course, ladies. The adobe buildings have nearly returned to the earth but Ballarat is well worth seeing to gain an appreciation of the difficulties miners endured during their search for gold. The Official Ballarat Page, Click Here. Ballarat, California: Desert Magazine Article; "They Never Locked the Door of the Jail in Ballarat", by Leroy and Margaret Bales. Four pictures, one of a very young Seldom Seen Slim, and a DM map, always a treat, May, 1941:http://www.dezertmagazine.com/mine/1941DM05/index.html Ballarat Courtesy Dolores Steele Ballarat Courtesy Dolores Steele Ballarat Courtesy Dolores Steele Ballarat T.E. Connell Merchantile bill of sale to the Skidoo Trading Company for $62.59. D.A. Wright collection T.E. Connell Merchantile bill of sale to the Skidoo Trading Company for $62.59. D.A. Wright collection	Ballarat Assay Office Courtesy Keith E. Fieler Ballarat Jail and Morgue Courtesy Keith E. Fieler Ballarat Courtesy Dolores Steele Ballarat Courtesy Dolores Steele Ballarat Courtesy Dolores Steele Looking toward Panamint Range from Ballarat General Store. D.A. Wright photo. Photo taken from within the Ballarat General Store looking out. D.A. Wright photo. Ballarat 1963 Courtesy Johnnie Church Ballarat Courtesy S. Martin Shelton Ballarat Courtesy S. Martin Shelton Ballarat Courtesy S. Martin Shelton

Gold was discovered in Australia two years after the California gold rush of 1849. The discovery was made in Ballarat, Victoria, in the southeast part of Australia. It was there, in 1869, that the largest nugget in the world was found. It weighed almost 143 pounds. The prospectors who founded the town in the Panamint Valley of California probably thought it would bring them luck. It did not. The land was harsh and barren offering little except sagebrush. There were no trees or water or anything of substance necessary for survival. Everything needed to be brought in from great distances away. There was no timber for houses and other buildings. Ballarat was a town literally built from adobe bricks. Even under such extreme conditions, there were several dance halls and, of course, ladies. The adobe buildings have nearly returned to the earth but Ballarat is well worth seeing to gain an appreciation of the difficulties miners endured during their search for gold. The Official Ballarat Page, Click Here.

Ballarat, California: Desert Magazine Article; "They Never Locked the Door of the Jail in Ballarat", by Leroy and Margaret Bales. Four pictures, one of a very young Seldom Seen Slim, and a DM map, always a treat, May, 1941:http://www.dezertmagazine.com/mine/1941DM05/index.html