Hart

[rustycoinUT]

In late 1907, while a depression was sweeping the nation,3 prospectors from Goldfield - James Hart and the brothers Bert and Clark Hitt - found pockets of rich gold ore in the Castle Mountains, about 4 miles south of the Barnwell & Searchlight Railroad.

In early 1908, prospectors swarmed to the strike in automobiles and wagons, on bicycles and burros. During the next few months, a camp was thrown up, a telephone line was strung to Barnwell, a weekly newspaper, the Enterprise, started up, a voting precinct and justice-court township were created, and a post office was established.

By summer, Hart’s 400 residents were served by 2 large hotels and a rooming house, 2 general stores, a bookstore, a real-estate office, a candy store, 2 lumberyards, a bakery, 8 saloons, telephone and telegraph service, and a water line.

A businessmen’s league limited the sale of liquor, enforced police and fire regulations, and ousted gamblers and toughs. A miners’ union, meanwhile, was organized, and a 10-stamp mill was built at one of the 3 leading mines.

But the pockets of high-grade ore proved too small, and mining apparently declined during 1909. The Enterprise and other businesses closed; a fire wiped out much of the business district (largely deserted); the leading mines suspended work and the miners’ union was disbanded; the court district and voting precinct were abolished; and, finally, the post office closed in late 1915.