Providence Ghost Town
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Providence and the Bonanza King Mine – History of a Mojave Boomtown
The Providence Mountains in eastern San Bernardino County, now within the Mojave National Preserve, were the stage for one of the desert’s great silver rushes. In the spring of 1880, prospectors George Goreman and P. Dwyer, coming over from Ivanpah, uncovered silver-bearing rock that assayed between $640 and $5,000 per ton. The richest discovery became known as the Bonanza King Mine.
The mine was quickly acquired by Wilson Waddingham and Thomas Ewing, who developed it aggressively. A 20-stamp mill was erected, a workforce of about 150 men was employed, and ore began pouring out. By 1882, the Bonanza King was credited with producing around $1.5 million in bullion. A small town, Providence, sprang up on the steep eastern slope below the mine. At its peak in the early 1880s, Providence held two general stores, a post office, and three saloons—a modest but lively camp built on the promise of silver.
Trouble arrived in mid-1885 when the big mill burned down. A smaller 5-stamp mill was put up at the nearby Perseverance Mine in 1886, but the economics had shifted. Falling silver prices and declining ore led to a steady downturn. By 1892 the post office closed, and Providence slipped into ghost town status.
Mining did not vanish completely. In 1906–1907, operators built a gasoline-powered 10-stamp mill just below the Bonanza King, but it lasted only about a year. During World War I, the district saw a more ambitious revival. A new mill was erected, and a living camp was outfitted with electricity and running water, a far cry from the rough days of the 1880s. Smaller operations continued into the 1920s, but Providence never regained its former prominence.
Today, little remains of Providence but ruins and scattered tailings. The Bonanza King Mine is remembered as one of the richest in the East Mojave, while the surrounding mountains are better known for their natural features, such as Mitchell Caverns and the “sky island” forests of pinyon and juniper. The story of Providence echoes the broader tale of the desert’s boomtowns—rich ore sparking a feverish rush, a few short years of prosperity, and then decline, leaving behind only traces of lives and fortunes made and lost.
