Located in the El Paso Mountains of Kern County, CA is the ghost town of Garlock. The town was named after Eugene Garlock, who hauled ore from nearby Randsburg mines to process at his mill, known as the Garlock Pioneer Mill. Garlock was a small community, although it did include a school house and a church at one time. The town lasted until 1903, when the last of the residents moved away. Burro Schmidt (a local miner) dug straight through one of the mountains, following a gold-rich vein. Apparently, there used to be occasional tours going through the tunnel, you would start on one side and pop out the other side. Today, all that remains are a few structures, most of which are now on private property (so please be respectful and don’t trespass).
Please click the images below:
My Uncle and I use to visit Roberta Ruth (Star/Starry) in the 1960s. Roberta was a cousin of my uncle, Bud Starry. I was about 17 years old at the time and it was great sleeping in the old building on the property and hearing Roberta spin tales of life in the past. She was a graduate of USC in journalism and wrote of the different historic events that took place in the area as the ‘town’ grew up in its hey day.
I recall that her husband (My uncles, uncle) was severely injured in an auto accident in the 60’s and never recovered. I suspect that Roberta lived out her days in her beloved Garlock.