Randsburg, California |
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Settled: 1895
Status: Active Town
Current Population: 69
Peak Population: 3,500+
Elevation: 3,504 Feet
Primary Mineral: Gold
The Rand district is on the San Bernardino-Kern County line. Randsburg, 45 miles northeast of Mojave, is in the center of the district. Although more than half the area is in San Bernardino County, nearly all the gold mined in the district has come from the western part, in Kern County. This is the most important district in Kern County, and it contains the largest gold mine in the county, the Yellow Aster. Gold has been the chief commodity mined; silver has been a byproduct.
The following text is from a sign in town:
Gold was discovered on the slope of Rand Mountain in 1895. From this discovery, the town of Randsburg sprang up almost overnight. By 1899, the town had over 3,500 residents. Randsburg boasted a 100-stamp mill and conservative estimates are that $60,000,000 in gold was taken out of the mines in the area during the town's boom years.
From 1895 till about 1933, the Yellow Aster mine produced almost $25,000,000 worth of gold at the old gold prices of about $20.00 per ounce. The jail and white house saloon were host to many a miner, cowboy, farmer, Indian, and clamper during the peak of the mining period.