Former boomtown Searchlight rich with history

Searchlight enjoys a quiet old age after 114 years. A boomtown born in 1898 of gold discoveries, Searchlight no longer depends upon mining for its livelihood.

Today, Searchlight survives by serving travelers and visitors drawn by recreation. The town has a settled population of about 540, one-third of the number living there during the boom years. More than half of Searchlight's population are retirees who choose to live in a laid-back, stress-free small town.

About an hour's drive from Las Vegas, Searchlight sits at the crossroads of busy U.S. Highway 95 and popular Nevada Route 164, which accesses Lake Mohave at Cottonwood Cove, 14 miles east of the highway junction. A shortcut for lake-bound travelers on Interstate 15, this scenic highway exits the freeway between Mountain Pass, Calif., and Primm. It cuts 31 miles east through Nipton, Calif., toward the Nevada border and on to Searchlight.

Several years before Las Vegas became a town along the Union Pacific in 1905, mineral discoveries resulted in the formation of the Searchlight Mining District. A mining town began to grow. Some suppose it was named for a popular brand of matches then in use, while others think it's more likely the name came from a prospector's comment that miners needed a searchlight to find the microscopic flecks of gold common to the district. The first claim later became the Duplex Mine, a leader among the 300 claims that eventually dotted the district. In 1900, the Quartette Mining Company formed, eventually producing more than half of Searchlight's total production over several decades.

The first decade of the 1900s produced millions, luring 1,500 boomers to the isolated town. When Clark County was carved from Lincoln County, Searchlight contended with Las Vegas for county seat, an honor awarded to Las Vegas even though it was smaller. Being the Clark County seat would have given Searchlight a hedge against the boom-and-bust cycle common to mining towns.

Only rudimentary roads reached Searchlight, making movement of ore difficult. Mining interests built a narrow-gauge railway from Searchlight to a mill on the Colorado River, where production was transported by steamboat down the river to the Santa Fe Railroad in Needles, Calif. The last of a small fleet of steamboats, the "Searchlight," plied the river until 1916. Her retirement brought an end to the colorful steamboat era in Southern Nevada.

The Barnwell and Searchlight Railway, a 23-mile connection to the Santa Fe reached Searchlight in 1907. It served the town and the mines until a flash flood destroyed its roadbed in 1923. It was never rebuilt. Soon, failing mines and declining population left Searchlight greatly diminished, kept on the map only because of its position along the Arrowhead Highway to Southern California. In 1927, a new highway to Los Angeles followed a different alignment, bypassing Searchlight. Only about 50 people remained in the community after that setback.

When work began on the Hoover Dam project in the 1930s, conditions in Searchlight improved. It offered bars, gambling and women to off-duty dam workers. The El Rey Club, a popular hot spot and brothel became a big draw in the 1940s, when prostitution was still legal in Clark County. That Searchlight fixture burned down in the 1950s. The last mine closed in 1953.

When completed in 1951, Davis Dam backed up the river to form Lake Mohave, flooding the old steamboat landing site. Access to developments at Cottonwood Cove through Searchlight brought campers, boaters, anglers and vacationers to the old town. Close to National Park Service campgrounds, the Cottonwood Cove Resort and Marina boasts boat rentals, houseboats, a motel, restaurant, lounge and general store. To reach the lake, follow the Cottonwood Cove Road, Route 164, from the business district east toward the lake.

Turn off at the town's community center, where you'll find an outdoor mining equipment display. Inside, the multipurpose building houses a county library branch, meeting rooms, offices and a very nice one-room historical museum, a satellite of the Clark County Heritage Museum. Learn about Searchlight history and some of its most famous residents during your visit there.

Margo Bartlett Pesek's column appears on Sundays.