Dedicated November 4, 2001
Goodsprings is named for a spring which was formerly located in the area now covered by the community of Goodsprings. Joseph Good, who was apparently both a miner and later a cattle rancher, located the spring and his name was used. Originally Good's Spring, it had become Goodsprings by the 1870s. The first mining in the area was at the Potosi Mine, which was located and worked by Mormon pioneers in the mid 1850s. The Potosi takes its name from the Potosi mining district in Wisconsin.
The Potosi did not prove to be a successful mine for the Mormon settlers, who were also responsible for the founding of a ranch in a valley where surface water and artesian water was easily found, Named by early explorers "the meadows", or Las Vegas in Spanish, it is the location of a singularly important stop for many residents of California and other related areas, and provides local residents with an income tax free environment, not to mention a source of local employment and entertainment.
Joseph Good was part of a group of prospectors who had come to the region from North San Juan, California. He is credited with being part of the party which located the Techatticup Mine in El Dorado Canyon, the oldest patented mine in Nevada, and later to be distinguished by the Charter Doins of the Queho Posse, Chapter 1919, of the Ancient and Honourable order of E Clampus Vitus
.Good's party also located some possible claims in the Goodsprings area, naming their new mining district the New England Mining District. The prospectors did not continue with their efforts, probably because of the difficulty of getting ore out of the area to the West Coast. The district ceased to exist.
By about 1870, new interest was shown in the area by prospectors. Even the Potosi, then renamed the Comet, was being worked. The Yellow Pine Mining District was organized in 1882 by Joseph Yount, Hosea White (his son-in-law), and Ben Hamilton. Joseph, a local cattle rancher, had located the Columbia Mine. New mines were being located, most notably the Keystone, Shenandoah, and Honduras Mines, located by James Taylor. The Keystone was developed by Samuel T. Godbe, about 10 years later.
It was about 1886 that the first permanent settlement occurred at Goodsprings. Led by A. G. Campbell, the miners built a stone cabin at the spring, which may be the one still extent at Goodsprings today.
By 1892, about 200 miners and prospectors were living in the Goodsprings area. They were looking for gold and silver ore, though zinc later became more important. By 1893, the Keystone Mine had the first post office in the area. (It closed in 1897) It also had the singular distinction of being taken over by the miners working the mine in a dispute over wages. They held the mine for three months, until enough money had been made to pay their wages, and those of the local Indians who were cutting wood for the mine, before they gave up control to the owners of the mine. This occurred in 1895.
The first known mining related fatality occurred in the district was August Werner, who fell down the shaft at the Clementina and died. He was the first of five known fatalities, a remarkably low figure for the time.
The Yellow Pine Mine was perhaps the best known of the local mines, and was not developed until 1901. In that year J. F. Kent acquired and consolidated a number of claims in the Porphyry Gulch area, about four miles northeast of Goodsprings.
Goodsprings itself was founded a couple of years before, with the Post Office opening on April 6, 1899. Samuel Yount, the son of Joseph Yount, the postmaster of Sandy from 1896-1898, became the postmaster of the new community in 1899, serving until 1914.
Goodsprings was coming into its own. New growth occurred when the Salt Lake, Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad came through the area about 7 miles from the town in 1904, creating a station at Goodsprings Junction. The site drew a new resident named George Fayle, who was to have a lasting effect on the small community, and provide a watering stop for untold numbers of local and out of area travelers over the following years. His story, and that of the Saloon he found, will be found elsewhere in this keepsake
.The community of Goodsprings prospered during the boom of the early 1900s, and again during the teens. In May of 1909, J. F. Kent, who had created the Yellow Pine Mining Company in 1901, purchased the remnants of the railroad which had served the Quartette Mine in Searchlight. It took him until 1911 for the first track to be laid for the Yellow Pine Mining Company Railroad. This line was to serve the Yellow Pine's 100 ton mill and haul ore to Goodsprings junction, by then known as Jean. The railroad was completed by August of 1911, and ran until 1930. By 1934 the rails had been removed, and the short line was only a memory.
During World War I, the need for war metals helped the mines, which produced, in addition to some gold and silver, zinc, platinum, copper, lead, vanadium and cobalt. It was the need for zinc and copper in particular which put Goodsprings "on the map" during the war.
The community prospered, reaching a population high of an estimated 1,000 in 1915, up from only 129 five years before. The high did not last, though, as by 1920 the population was 356, and by 1931 it was down to about 15. However, during its height, Goodsprings boasted a hotel, with electric lights, stores, bars, a school district, church, and a newspaper, the Goodsprings Gazette.
The Gazette was founded by Frank A. Doherty on May 20, 1916. A four-page weekly, it was Republican in its politics. Frank died within the year, and his wife took over operation of the newspaper. Luckily, Florence Doherty was the daughter of pioneer Las Vegas newspaperman Charles Squires. Her father helped her with stories, and with setting type for the newspaper at the plant of his newspaper, the Las Vegas Age. He would send the printed sheets to her at Goodsprings, and she would have the paper delivered to her 350 to 400 subscribers. The paper lasted until 1921, when it finally stopped.
With the flu epidemic of 1918-1920, and the end of government needs for war metals, the boom which made Goodsprings dried up. The community slowly slid downhill, never completely ceasing to exist, but losing most of its population base. While World War II might have led to another boom for the community, especially in light of the vanadium which was available in the local mines, it did not. All the vanadium needed by the war effort was purchased from Peru, and Goodsprings ceased its mining efforts.
Today, Goodsprings is a residential community for those who wish to be outside of the bustle of the Vegas Valley. Close enough to commute, it provides a rural, quiet environment, with ruins and tailings to remind locals and visitors of the storied history of the community.
In 1904, George Fayle decided to relocate from Calico, California to Goodsprings Junction, on the route of the Salt Lake City, L os Angeles, and San Pedro Railroad. He had been hauling ore from the silver mines at Calico to the railroad junction at Daggett. He was the nephew of Samuel Yount, who convinced him to relocate to the new stop, and set up a store at the site.
Goodsprings Junction had only one store, and that was being operated by Sam Yount. Fayle started his own store, which allowed Sam to move to Goodsprings itself. The Younts had gotten their start in the cattle business by buying the cattle of Joseph Good, who was the namesake of Goodsprings.
Goodsprings Junction needed a post office, but because Goodsprings already had a post office (with Sam Yount as the postmaster), a new name was needed. George's wife's name was Jean, and that was the name presented and approved. Today, when you turned off the highway to come to Goodsprings, you turned at the townsite of Jean, a community without homes or stores, but with a prison and two major casinos.
Fayle became the postmaster of Jean, when the post office opened on June 28, 1905. He served in that capacity officially until February, 1914, though he had actually moved to Goodsprings itself in 1912. It was Jean Fayle herself who continued to operate the post office which has been named for her for the final two years of George's tenure.
George first went into business with his Uncle Samuel Yount, though his first independent effort was the Pioneer Saloon, which was built in 1913. Fayle began operations of this most needed part of the community that same year, though he may have also used part of the building, the same we see today, as his first home. He also built the Fayle Department Store, even though he had begun as a partner with his Uncle in a previous store.
In 1916, Fayle took his biggest gamble alone, building the Fayle Hotel. It was located about 100 yards west of the Pioneer Saloon on Main Street. The hotel boasted electric lights, hot and cold running water, and steam heat. It was opened with a grand ball on May 13, 1916.
Sam Yount had been unwilling to back his nephew in this venture, as he thought the community was not going to be a success in the long run. Fayle was not convinced of the imminent demise of the town, and continued to promote Goodsprings. On December 9, 1918, Fayle succumbed to the Flu epidemic which was sweeping the United States and western Europe. He was buried in the Goodsprings cemetery, where his is still the largest headstone.
The Saloon, however continued to function. It was an active watering hole throughout the succeeding decades, including during the war years. Clark Gable stayed at the Fayle Hotel in 1942, and took refreshment at the Pioneer Saloon, in 1942 while awaiting word about his wife, who had crashed on Mt. Potosi in a Western Airlines DC-3. Carole Lombard (Mrs. Gable) and the rest of the passengers and crew were killed in the crash, and Gable was left to grieve his loss.
The Fayle Hotel burned down in 1966, and no trace remains today. The Fayle Department Store is likewise merely a memory. The Pioneer Saloon, however, catered to a more basic need, and continues to thrive today.
It went through many owners, actually shutting four about five years at the end of the 1950s. Irene Nutman reopened the Saloon in 1960, and sold the operation to "Poppa Don" Hendrik in 1965. Poppa Don ran a motorcycle repair business out of part of the Saloon building, and later ran the only ambulance service in this are of Southern Nevada.
Operated today by his son, Young Don Hedrick, the Saloon continues to slake the thirsts of visitors to Goodsprings, as well as serving as the home of the Asshole Club, a local organization of like-minded residents and visitors. It is a stop of note for all who come to Goodsprings, especially those Clampers who have, for reasons unfathomable by most, might have misplaced their needed libations.
To George Fayle, Irene Nutman, "Poppa Don" Hedrick, and all those who have provided much needed sustenance to travelers and residents alike, the Queho Posse, Chapter 1919, of the Ancient and Honourable Order of E Clampus Vitus can say only,
And so recorded.
George Fayle moved to southern Nevada from Calico, California, in 1904. He settled at Goodsprings Junction, which was later renamed for his wife Jean. In 1912, he moved to Goodsprings. He built the Pioneer Saloon in 1913, later building the Fayle General Store and the Fayle Hotel. Though he died in the flu epidemic of 1918, his vision< lived on through his saloon, still a center of community life. Later owners have also affected the community, none more so than "Poppa Doc" Hedrick, who raised money for local causes and ran a local ambulance service.
Dedicated November 4, 2001 Queho Posse, Chapter 1919 E Clampus Vitus
Satisfactory!
Bibliography - for those redshirts who can, and wish, to read further
Ashbaugh, Don, Nevada's Turbulent Yesterday ... a Study in Ghost Towns, 1963, Westernlore Press
Averett, Walter, Directory of Southern Nevada Place Names, 1963, Walter Averett
Averett, Walter, Beyond the Ranges, 1997, Grand Junction, Colorado
Hewett, D. F., Geology and Ore Deposits of the Goodsprings Quadrangle, Nevada, 1931, USGPO
Highton, Jake, Nevada Newspaper Days: A History of Journalism in the Silver State, 1990, Heritage West
Lingenfelter, Richard, and Gash, Karen, The Newspapers of Nevada; A History and Bibliography, 1854-1979, 1984, University of Nevada Press
Miller, Donald, Ghost Towns of Nevada, 1979, Pruett Publishing
Myrick, David, Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California, Vol. II, the Southern Roads, 1991, University of Nevada Press
Paher, Stanley, edit., Nevada Official Bicentennial Book, 1976, Nevada Publications
Paher, Stanley, evada Ghost Towns & Mining Camps, 1984, Nevada Publications
Patera, Alan H., Goodsprings, Nevada, including Sandy, Jean, Keystone, Platina, Ripleyand the Yellow Pine mine camp, 1999, Western Places
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