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  Welcome to Backcountry Explorers

Ballarat Ghost Town


Ballarat, Death Valley

GPS:  36.047974°,  -117.224086°

Last remaining Ballarat building

Ballarat ghost town is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. It lies at an elevation of 1079 feet in the Panamint Valley. It was founded in 1897 as a supply point for the mines in the canyons of the Panamint Range. A quarter-mile to the south is Post Office Springs, a reliable water source used since the 1850s by prospectors and desert wanderers. George Riggins, a young immigrant from Australia, gave Ballarat its name when he proposed it should be named for Ballarat, Victoria, in the heart of Australia's gold country.

History
The town was founded in 1897. In its heyday—from 1897 to 1905—Ballarat had 400 to 500 residents. It hosted seven saloons, three hotels, a Wells Fargo station, post office, school, a jail and morgue, but no churches. Ballarat was a place for miners and prospectors in the area to resupply and relax.

​The town began its decline when the Ratcliff Mine, in Pleasant Canyon east of town, suspended operations. Other mines nearby also began to play out, and in 1917 the post office closed and all that remained were a few diehard prospectors and desert rats.
Two legendary Death Valley old-timers that stuck around were Seldom Seen Slim (born Charles Ferge), who lived most of his life in Ballarat prospecting, and Shorty Harris, who called himself a “single blanket-jackass prospector" and lived off and on in the dying town until his death in 1934.

​Seldom Seen, who claimed he hadn't taken a bath in 20 years because water was so scarce, lived in Ballarat until his death in 1968. He is buried in the cemetery.

In the 1960s, Charles Manson and the "Manson Family" of killers moved into the Barker Ranch south of Ballarat, and left graffiti in the town jail. A 1942 green Dodge power wagon left in town, belonged to Charlie Manson family member and convicted murderer Tex Watson, who used it to escape from police in the Barker Ranch raid.

Today, Ballarat has one full-time resident. As of June 2013 Rocky Novak and his dogs, Potlicker and Brownie, live in the town. Rocky runs the general store on afternoons and weekends to supply tourists.
Ballarat is used as a meeting point for four-wheel-drive expeditions into the Panamint Range and Death Valley, and in winter up to 300 people camp in the grounds of the town.


This text taken in part from Ballarat, California by Waitejr and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License


Adobe building on it's last ldes
Mining ore car on section of track
Picture
Charles Manson family trucl
Inside cab of Manson family truck
Ballarat jail and morgue
Inside of Ballarat Jail
Last commerce in Ballarat
Old  car rusting away
Picture
Manson family pick up truck
Manson family truck looking face on.
Ballarat jail with ore car in front
Last Ballarat building still standing.
Death Valley National Park (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)


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  • Home
  • Our Adventures
    • Death Valley >
      • Artist Drive, Death Valley
      • Badwater, Death Valley
      • Ballarat Ghost Town, Death Valley
      • Broken Pick mine, Death Valley
      • Charcoal Kilns, Death Valley
      • Charles Manson Hide Out Barker Ranch, Death Valley
      • Chloride Cliffs, Death Valley
      • Corona Mine, Death Valley
      • Crater Sulfur Mine, Death Valley
      • Devils Golf Course, Death Valley
      • Geologist Cabin, Death Valley
      • Harmony Borax works, Death Valley
      • Ibex Springs Talc Mine, Death Valley
      • Inyo Mine, Death Valley
      • Keane Wonder Mine, Death Valley
      • Keystone Mine, Death Valley
      • Lost Burro Mine, Death Valley
      • Marble Bath, Death Valley
      • Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley
      • Morning Glory Mine Camp, Death Valley
      • Racetrack, Death Valley
      • Rhyolite, Nevada
      • Russell Camp, Death Valley
      • Ryan, Death Valley
      • Scotty's Castle, Death Valley
      • Skidoo Ghost Town, Death Valley
      • Stella's - Mengel Cabin, Death Valley
      • Teakettle Junction, Death Valley
      • Titus Canyon, Death Valley
      • Ubehebe Crater, Death Valley
      • Warm Springs, Death Valley
      • Zabriskie Point, Death Valley
    • California Gold Country >
      • Alleghany, California
      • Big Springs, highway 49
      • Downieville, California
      • Forest City
      • Kenton Mine
      • Kentucky Mine and Museum
      • Love Falls Yuba River
      • Mountain House Henness Pass
      • Oregon Creek Covered Bridge
      • Poker Flat
      • Sierra Buttes Mine
      • Sierra City, Ca
      • Young America Mine
  • Story Blog
  • Our Company
  • Support