Searchlight
The old mining town of Searchlight, Nevada, is about an hour south of Las Vegas. Searchlight lies at the crossroads of US Highway 95 and Nevada Route 164, which provides access to Lake Mohave at Cottonwood Cove, 14 miles east of the highway junction. On Interstate 15, this scenic highway exits the freeway between Mountain Pass, California, and Primm, Nevada. The route passes through Nipton, California, before heading to Searchlight, Nev.
Searchlight, Nevada, grew out of the desert in the late 1890s when George Frederick Colton uncovered gold ore in 1897 and staked the Duplex Mine. By 1898, a new mining district was organized, and soon more than 300 claims dotted the hills. The Quartette Mine, established in 1900, became the leading producer, yielding more than half of the camp’s output. A 16-mile narrow-gauge railroad carried ore to a mill on the Colorado River, where steamboats hauled it down to Needles to connect with the Santa Fe Railroad.
By 1907, the Barnwell and Searchlight Railway tied the district directly to the Santa Fe line, bringing steady supplies and new settlers. At its height, Searchlight boasted about 1,500 residents—more than Las Vegas at the time—and the mines produced millions in gold and silver between 1907 and 1910. Yet challenges remained: the Union Pacific’s arrival in Las Vegas in 1905 shifted regional importance, and when Clark County was carved from Lincoln County in 1909, Las Vegas won the county seat over Searchlight.
The town also witnessed the twilight of river steamboats. The vessel Searchlight ran until 1916, the last on the lower Colorado. After World War I, production waned. Flood damage in 1923 ended train service, and when U.S. 91 bypassed the camp in 1927, the population fell to about 50.
Searchlight gained a second life during the Hoover Dam era of the 1930s. Off-duty workers found diversion in its saloons, gambling houses, and brothels, including the El Rey Club, which flourished in the 1940s before burning in the 1950s. The completion of Davis Dam in 1951 created Lake Mohave, submerging the old steamboat landing but drawing new visitors for boating and camping at Cottonwood Cove. Gold mining persisted until around 1953.
Today, Searchlight sits at 3,540 feet elevation, straddling highways and stories of its own making. No one knows for certain whether the name came from a match brand, a riverboat, or a miner’s wry remark about needing a searchlight to find specks of gold. By 1940, the district had produced about $4.5 million in gold. Now, with a population of around 800, Searchlight remains a quiet desert outpost carrying echoes of its boomtown past.
steamboat era In the 1930s, the Hoover Dam project improved conditions in Searchlight.
Davis Dam
Cottonwood Cove
Colorado River
Courtesy Searchlight Museum
Searchlight 1906 - E.W. Braswell
Searchlight Weather
Searchlight Matches
Colorado River
Cottonwood Island
Cottonwood Cove
Nipton, CA
Colorado Riverboats
Barnwell & Searchlight train depot 1920
Needles, CA
Santa Fe Railroad
Mojave, California.
Searchlight 1930s - Frasher photo
Historical Timeline of Searchlight, Nevada
1897 George Frederick Colton discovers gold and opens the Duplex Mine.1898 Searchlight Mining District is founded; a camp forms around the mines.
1900 Quartette Mining Company is formed, becoming the district’s leading producer.
1902 A 16-mile narrow-gauge railroad is built from the Quartette Mine to the Colorado River mill.
1905 Union Pacific reaches Las Vegas, strengthening its position in the region.
1907 Barnwell and Searchlight Railway connects Searchlight with the Santa Fe line. Searchlight’s mines begin producing millions in gold; population grows larger than Las Vegas.
1909 Searchlight is part of Lincoln County. Clark County is formed; Las Vegas chosen as county seat over Searchlight.
1907–1910 Searchlight’s mines produce about $7 million in gold and other minerals; population around 1,500.
1916 The steamboat Searchlight makes its final run, ending the steamboat era on the lower Colorado.
1917–1919 Mining declines; Barnwell and Searchlight Railway runs only two trains a week by 1919.
1923 A major washout on September 23 ends train service; the line is abandoned.
1927 U.S. Route 91 bypasses Searchlight; population drops to about 50.
1930s Searchlight revives as a recreation hub for Hoover Dam workers, with gambling, saloons, and brothels.
1940s El Rey Club becomes a well-known casino and brothel during Clark County’s legal prostitution era.
1951 Davis Dam is completed, creating Lake Mohave and flooding the old steamboat landing; Cottonwood Cove emerges as a recreation site.
1953 Last year of gold mining in the Searchlight area.
1950s The El Rey Club burns down, ending its run as Searchlight’s most famous establishment.
By 1940 Total gold production estimated at about $4.5 million.
Present Searchlight stands at 3,540 feet with a population of around 800, remembered for its mining heyday, riverboats, and colorful past.
Searchlight Cemetery