Quaint charm in Chloride, AZ
- Ghost Town Hunters
- Jun 15, 2020
- 2 min read
We visited the little town of Chloride, Arizona on our way to Las Vegas around Christmas 2019. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to experience it in all its glory due to bad weather and it being off season, but it was pretty cool to take a look around and learn the history.
Chloride was founded around 1863 even though prospectors had been canvassing the area for silver as early as the 1840’s. Not only was silver found in Chloride and the surrounding areas but eventually gold, lead, zinc and turquoise were discovered in abundance. Although founded in 1863, disputes with the Hualapai native American tribe slowed mining and it wasn’t until 1870 when a treaty was signed with the Hualapai that the mining really began to take off.
Chloride is home to one of the oldest running post offices in Arizona dating back to 1873. The Chloride post office has been operating continuously since 1893 and you can still pop by and see it in use today. Chloride is also home to a building called Yesterday’s Restaurant. The restaurant and hotel have some fantastic reviews but unfortunately were not dog friendly, so we are excited to come back and check it out next time we have a pooch-free roadtrip. Yesterday’s restaurant has historic relevance to the town as well, prior to its restaurant days from around 1868-1919 the site used to be a stage stop and repair station.
After many successful years with as many as 75 mines in operation and a population of 2,000 Chloride started to see a decline. Like many mining towns a majority of mines were closed in the 1940’s and Chloride slowly became a ghost town.
Today the town is home to around 270 people mainly retirees, artists and musicians. There are some great photo ops for tourists including the old gas station as well as a small cowboy town. The Chloride Historical Society maintains the old cowboy town with gunfights and shows held in the summer months.
Chloride has a quaint charm and interesting history thanks to the surrounding hills providing minerals and fortunes to over 100 years of miners and their families. Be sure and check it out when heading to or coming from Las Vegas on Arizona highway 93.
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