Nipton, California

Nipton is a small unincorporated community in Ivanpah Valley, near the California-Nevada line in the eastern Mojave Desert. It stands beside the railroad route between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, a few miles from Nevada and near the northeastern side of Mojave National Preserve.

Nipton was never a large town, but it occupied an important crossing place. Wagon roads, mining trails, ranch routes, a railroad, and a stage line all came together there. Its history is tied as much to the surrounding mines and ranches as to the few buildings that remain at the townsite.

Nippeno Camp

Before the railroad, two wagon routes crossed at the future townsite. One ran generally east and west toward the Colorado River country and the Ivanpah mines. The other connected the Goodsprings and Searchlight country with Goffs and the railroad route toward Needles.

In 1900, Samuel Dunc Karns, a prospector from Pennsylvania, staked a mining claim called Nippeno in the nearby Crescent mining district, east of Nipton in Nevada. The camp at the wagon-road crossing became known as Nippeno Camp, and the later town took its name from the mine.

Railroad town

The railroad made Nippeno Camp into Nipton. In late 1904, track crews on the new San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad passed through the camp while completing the route between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The first through train passed on February 9, 1905, with Senator William A. Clark aboard.

The line gave the little settlement a purpose beyond the nearby mine. It became a shipping point for cattle, a supply point for mining districts, and a railhead for travelers and freight bound for Searchlight and the Nevada camps. The depot served ranches including the Yates Ranch, the Walking Box Ranch, and the Rock Springs Land and Cattle Company.

A stage and freight connection linked Searchlight with Nipton. Passengers, mail, mining supplies, and general freight could arrive by train at Nipton and continue by wagon or stage to Searchlight and the Crescent district. Nipton was therefore not simply a stop on the railroad; it was the place where rail transportation met the wagon roads of the eastern Mojave.

By 1910, the community was known as Nipton. Local history says the shorter name was adopted to avoid confusion with Nipomo, another California railroad stop.

The railroad's corporate history is often simplified incorrectly. The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad did not merge into Union Pacific in 1910. Union Pacific interests had jointly held control of the line from its early years. In 1916, the railroad was renamed the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. Union Pacific took full control in 1921 and began operating the line under lease in 1936.

Harry Trehearne

Harry Trehearne was the principal builder of modern Nipton. A Cornish-born miner, he became a full-time resident in 1922. He leased the railroad-station grounds, built a wooden store for the Nipton Mercantile Company, repaired the old hotel, and began developing the townsite.

The hotel was already standing by 1918, when a traveler described it as old. Trehearne repaired it in 1924, reportedly spending $3,000 to make it usable again. It is therefore safer to describe the hotel as an early twentieth-century building rather than state positively that it was built in 1905.

Trehearne also pursued a homestead claim adjoining the railroad grounds. In the late 1930s, a well was dug by hand to a depth of about 550 feet. Trehearne installed a pump in 1940. That work gave the townsite a more dependable water supply and helped make longer-term settlement possible.

Nipton's schoolhouse was built between 1930 and 1933. It was a concrete building with a galvanized-steel roof. Trehearne served as clerk of the school district and later deeded the school parcel to the Cima School District.

In April 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the patent transferring title of the Nipton townsite to Trehearne under the Homestead Act. During a trip to England that same year, Trehearne survived the sinking of the Athenia after it was torpedoed in the Atlantic. He returned to Nipton and continued building the store, town hall, and Nippeno House.

Trehearne died in 1949. His wife, Ella Mae, died a few years later.

Decline and restoration

By the middle of the twentieth century, the old pattern that had supported Nipton was changing. Mining activity rose and fell. Cattle increasingly moved by truck rather than rail. Highway travel replaced much of the old stage and passenger-rail business. Union Pacific abandoned the Nipton station during the 1950s, although freight trains continued to use the route.

The townsite passed through several owners between 1956 and 1984. In 1984, Gerald Freeman and his family acquired it under a lease with an option to purchase; escrow closed in January 1985. They restored the hotel, reopened the store as the Nipton Trading Post, and developed an RV park to serve workers at nearby mining operations.

Hotel Nipton reopened as a bed-and-breakfast in May 1986. The town again served local mining activity during the 1980s, particularly work connected with the Morning Star, Coliseum, and Castle Mountain mining areas.

In 1994, Congress established Mojave National Preserve. The privately held Nipton parcels were excluded from the preserve, leaving the townsite as a small private inholding beside public desert lands.

Recent ownership

Nipton later became known for a succession of ambitious redevelopment plans. A solar installation built during the Freeman period was intended to supply most of the town's electrical needs. In 2017, a cannabis company bought Nipton with plans for a cannabis-tourism destination; the project did not proceed as proposed.

Spiegelworld, a Las Vegas entertainment company known for circus and variety productions, bought the approximately 80-acre townsite in late 2022. The company has described Nipton as a retreat and creative base for performers and artisans. It is still a private townsite.

Nipton Timeline

Late nineteenth century - Wagon roads crossed in Ivanpah Valley at the future Nipton townsite.

1900 - Samuel Dunc Karns staked the Nippeno mining claim in the Crescent district of Nevada.

Late 1904 - Construction crews on the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad passed through Nippeno Camp.

February 9, 1905 - The first through train reportedly passed Nippeno Camp.

1905-1910 - Nippeno Camp developed as a railroad stop, cattle-shipping point, and connection to the Searchlight stage line.

1909 - S. D. Karns died at Nipton.

By 1910 - Nippeno Camp became known as Nipton.

1916 - The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad was renamed the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad.

1922 - Harry Trehearne became a full-time Nipton resident.

1924 - Trehearne built the Nipton Mercantile store and repaired the hotel.

1930-1933 - The Nipton schoolhouse was built.

1937-1940 - A hand-dug water well was completed at Nipton.

April 10, 1940 - Title to the Nipton townsite passed to Harry Trehearne under the Homestead Act.

1949 - Harry Trehearne died.

1950s - Union Pacific abandoned the Nipton station.

1984-1985 - The Freeman family acquired the townsite and began restoration.

May 1986 - Hotel Nipton reopened as a bed-and-breakfast.

1994 - The Nipton townsite was excluded from Mojave National Preserve.

2017 - A proposed cannabis-tourism project began but did not succeed.

Late 2022 - Spiegelworld purchased Nipton.

Sources and references

California Public Utilities Commission, Eldorado-Ivanpah Transmission Project cultural-resources report.

Union Pacific and Los Angeles & Salt Lake corporate history

Nippeno Consolidated Mine mineral survey record

Searchlight and Nipton Freight and Stage Office, UNLV Special Collections

Gerald Freeman, Origins and History of Nipton, California

Nipton historic marker

Spiegelworld's Nipton page

Union Pacific Clara Bow's Walking Box, and