White Pot Mine - California Ghost Town

WHITE POT MINE

NAME: White Pot
COUNTY: Inyo
ROADS: 2WD
GRID #(see map): 3
CLIMATE: Cool winter, Hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime

COMMENTS: At Junction of Hwy. 178 and Hwy. 190 at Furnace Creek Inn -- take Hwy. 178 towards Shoshone -- approxamately 35 miles -- turn right on 4x4 road. Update: From the Death Valley Park Service: The pool is destined to be removed, the metal buildings were crushed and removed by the park service. See the Ghost Town News. UPDATE:Just found out this past weekend that the National Park Service has NOT eliminated all of the historic White Pot Mine, located in Warm Springs Canyon, on the Death Valley slope of the Panamint Range. The Park Service has only knocked down two derelict steel outbuildings, one of which was a garage. As for the living quarters and the swimming pool, they have been spared due to outcry from several organizations. They will be studied further before any decision is to be made of their outcome. -David A. Wright (6/23/99)
REMAINS: The mine and remnanats.

There is a plaque at the site that reads thus: “WARM SPRINGS WAS USED BY THE PANAMINT SHOSHONE NATIVE AMERICANS AS A WINTER CAMP CALLED PABUNA. DURING THE 1880’S “PANAMINT TOM” RAN A RANCH AND ORCHARD UNTIL JULY, 1887, WHEN A FLASH FLOOD WIPED OUT HIS CROPS AND 150 FRUIT TREES. DUE TO THE AVAILABILITY OF WATER AT THE SPRINGS, A MILL WAS SET UP IN 1932 TO RECOVER GOLD FROM ORE MINED AT GOLD HILL. A TALC MINING CAMP OPERATED HERE FROM THE LATE 1930’S UNTIL 1988. THE LAST CLAIM HOLDER, PFIZER INCORPORATION, DONATED THE SITE TO THE CONSERVATION FUND FOR EVENTUAL DONATION TO THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.” The site contains several buildings, garage, swimming pool fed by warm spring water, mine structures, huge mine portal. When I visited in 1996 I found the place to be in fairly good shape, although one dwelling structure was in a sad shape of disrepair. The pool showed signs of recent cleaning, and cleaning supplies and a jug of Clorox sat nearby. In 1997 I found the dwelling in a worse shape. The pool was empty, incoming water diverted and running down the wash. At an elevation of about 2,500 feet, winters can be cold enough to put ice on the pool, so someone thoughtfully diverted the water and drained the pool. Death Valley National Park has plans to clean up the site. Submitted by David A. Wright Great Basin Research White Pot Mine Courtesy Dolores Steele	White Pot Mine Courtesy Dolores Steele White Pot Mine Courtesy Dolores Steele White Pot Mine Courtesy Dolores Steele White Pot Mine Courtesy Dolores Steele White Pot Mine Courtresy David A. Wright

There is a plaque at the site that reads thus: “WARM SPRINGS WAS USED BY THE PANAMINT SHOSHONE NATIVE AMERICANS AS A WINTER CAMP CALLED PABUNA. DURING THE 1880’S “PANAMINT TOM” RAN A RANCH AND ORCHARD UNTIL JULY, 1887, WHEN A FLASH FLOOD WIPED OUT HIS CROPS AND 150 FRUIT TREES. DUE TO THE AVAILABILITY OF WATER AT THE SPRINGS, A MILL WAS SET UP IN 1932 TO RECOVER GOLD FROM ORE MINED AT GOLD HILL. A TALC MINING CAMP OPERATED HERE FROM THE LATE 1930’S UNTIL 1988. THE LAST CLAIM HOLDER, PFIZER INCORPORATION, DONATED THE SITE TO THE CONSERVATION FUND FOR EVENTUAL DONATION TO THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.” The site contains several buildings, garage, swimming pool fed by warm spring water, mine structures, huge mine portal. When I visited in 1996 I found the place to be in fairly good shape, although one dwelling structure was in a sad shape of disrepair. The pool showed signs of recent cleaning, and cleaning supplies and a jug of Clorox sat nearby. In 1997 I found the dwelling in a worse shape. The pool was empty, incoming water diverted and running down the wash. At an elevation of about 2,500 feet, winters can be cold enough to put ice on the pool, so someone thoughtfully diverted the water and drained the pool. Death Valley National Park has plans to clean up the site.

Submitted by David A. Wright
Great Basin Research

White Pot Mine
Courtesy Dolores Steele

White Pot Mine
Courtresy David A. Wright

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