The town’s population peaked at about 300 people, but its heydays were short-lived. At that time, this building was known as Corkhill Hall. A recreation hall was built at the northeast end of the complex and was used as a community center for dances, church services, movies, funerals, and town meetings. The U-shaped complex of adobe also housed a dormitory, a store, a 23 room hotel, and dining room.

The railroad, which ran for about 20 miles from Ryan, connected up with the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad, providing the opportunity for the Pacific Coast Borax Company to profit from the Tonopah, Goldfield, and Bullfrog booms to the north, as well as servicing their own borax mines on the eastern fringes of Death Valley.įrom 1923 to 1925, the Pacific Coast Borax Company constructed a number of buildings in Amargosa, hiring architect Alexander Hamilton McCulloch to design a Spanish Colonial Revival whistle-stop, which centered on a hotel, theater, and office complex building.

In 1907, when a post office was established, the name was changed to Death Valley Junction. However, there was very little here until 1914 when the Pacific Coast Borax Company built the Death Valley Railroad, a narrow-gauge line that operated from Ryan, California to Death Valley Junction, carrying borax. Long used by area Indians, in the 19 th century, this site began to be utilized by prospectors and area settlers. Getting its start as a borax mining community, several historic buildings continue to stand today including the Amargosa Hotel and Opera House, which still cater to visitors. I knew that was where I belonged.” - Marta Becketįirst called Amargosa, meaning “bitter water” in the Paiute language, this tiny town situated in the Mojave Desert, is today home to less than a half dozen people. Inside, in the theater, they conversed by singing and dancing. “Outside, in the world, people struck each other, yelled, honked horns.

Amargosa opera house hotel death valley