Death Valley Junction, California

Death Valley Junction Amargosa
Unincorporated community
Amargosa Opera House
Death Valley Junction Location in California
Coordinates: 36°18′08″N 116°24′49″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Inyo County
Elevation	2,041 ft (622 m)
FIPS code	06-18212
GNIS feature ID	1656477
Death Valley Junction Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Amargosa Opera House
Location	CA 127 and CA 190, Death Valley Junction, California
Built	1923
Architect	Alexander H. McCulloch
Architectural style	Mission/Spanish Revival
NRHP reference No.	80000802
Added to NRHP	December 10, 1980

Death Valley Junction, more commonly known as Amargosa (Spanish for "Bitter"), is a tiny Mojave Desert unincorporated community in Inyo County, California, at the intersection of SR 190 and SR 127, in the Amargosa Valley and just east of Death Valley National Park. The zip code is 92328, the elevation is 2,041 ft (622 m), and the population is fewer than four people.

Death Valley Junction is home to the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel, where resident Marta Becket staged dance and mime shows from the late 1960s until her last show in February 2012. Becket died in 2017. The hotel is still operating next to the opera house, but beyond these maintained areas, the town is in a state of disrepair. There is no gas station, and only one restaurant, the Amargosa Cafe. The town is owned by the non-profit Amargosa Opera House Inc. which runs the Opera House, Hotel, and cafe

The community's location, 27 miles (43 km) east-southeast of Furnace Creek, on the east side of Death Valley is south of Nevada's Amargosa Valley and near Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. East/South East, 27 miles, is Pahrump, Nevada. South on SR127 is the town of Shoshone, California. The closest straight-line distance to the Nevada state line is roughly five miles northeast.

Government documents show an effort by the Timbisha Shoshone tribal government to acquire about 7,200 acres (29 km²) in the area during 1999 to 2000. This includes areas for residences and the official federal sanction to use some government lands for traditional ceremonies. In 2017 the tribe constructed a cannabis grow facility on the land.

History

Abandoned buildings in the historic district.

The town was created in 1907 when the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad was constructed through the Amargosa Valley and a spur from their main line was built to the Lila C. borax mine in the hills to the west. The town was originally owned by Robert Tubb, who operated a saloon, store, and brothel. The town first appears on the 1910 Furnace Creek Quandrangle USGS topographic map.

In 1914, the Death Valley Railroad started operating between Ryan, California and Death Valley Junction. It carried borax until 1928, when operations ceased. From 1923 to 1925 the Pacific Coast Borax Company constructed buildings in the town, hiring architect Alexander Hamilton McCulloch to design a Spanish Colonial Revival whistle stop centered at the hotel, theater and office complex building, now known as the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel.

The town began to decline in the mid-20th century. In 1967 dancer and actress Marta Becket visited due to an automobile repair. She became enamored with the theater, and with help from benefactors, she leased, then purchased, the hotel and theater complex.

The Death Valley post office opened in 1908 and transferred to Furnace Creek Ranch in 1961. The Amargosa post office opened in 1962, changed its name to Death Valley Junction in 1968.

In 1980 the town was included in the National Register of Historic Places as the "Death Valley Junction Historic District."

When the Death Valley Railroad was established in 1914, it used 3.19 miles (5.13 km) of tracks belonging to the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad east-southeast of Death Valley Junction to Horton.

Telephone history

The bottom instruction card of Death Valley Junction #2, a non-dial Western Electric 1A1 coin collector located at the Amagosa Opera House. Number detail on instruction card says, "619+Death Valley Junction #2." (Photo was taken in the late 1970s.)

Local wired telephones were manual telephone service until the 1980s. To reach a phone in Death Valley Junction when the area was under manual service required dialing the operator and asking for "Death Valley Junction, California, Toll Station" (and the one-digit number). Placing an outbound call required lifting the receiver and waiting for an operator. The operator who answered was in Los Angeles (over 150 miles away). Death Valley Junction is now in area codes 442 and 760.

Politics

In the state legislature, Death Valley Junction is in the 8th Senate District, represented by Democrat Angelique Ashby, and the 26th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Evan Low.

Federally, Death Valley Junction is in California's 8th congressional district, represented by Democrat John Garamendi.

Notable people

• "Shotgun" Kitty Tubb – wife of the original owner of the town, Robert Tubb
• Marta Becket – actress, dancer, choreographer and painter
• Harry Rosenberg – engineer who was instrumental in creating useful alloys of titanium

External links

• The town that Zane Grey helped build
• The Amargosa Opera House and Hotel Archived September 27, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
• Ghost Towns of Death Valley: Death Valley Junction Archived September 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
• LIFE Magazine Apr. 17, 1970