About 50 miles south of Las Vegas is the town of Searchlight. Founded in 1897 when George Colton found gold, the town grew to approximately 1,500 residents by 1910. Millions of dollars worth of gold and other precious mineral were extracted before the last mine ceased operation around 1953. The town is still populated today as it serves as a stopping point between Laughlin and Las Vegas, as well as being the junction to Cottonwood Cove on Lake Mojave.

This headframe sits above an inclined shaft leading down into the gold mine.
I wonder just how far down the inclined shaft goes? The mine is right next to the road so trying to descend into the mine would probably draw unwanted attention from local authorities.
The mine winch is still in place. The gear wheel looks like it could be greased and put back into operation.
If the cable on the winch is any indication of the depth of the mine, it's deep.
The winch appears to be pretty old. I couldn't find the date it was manufactured, but the winch was patented on December 11, 1906.
This is the mine's ore chute. There is no obvious evidence of an ore hopper having been attached.
The old mine building still stands. The concrete foundations attest to machinery that is long gone. The inclined shaft is just to the right of the photo.
Inside the mine building is this interesting machine. It appears to be designed to concentrate the gold bearing ore.
This classifier appears to be a more modern addition to the mine. The shaker screen would allow smaller ore to drop through while screening out the larger rocks.
This appears to be a home built riffle table, also known as a concentrating table. The motor at the back right corner would gently shake the table causing the gold to be caught in the grooves and the waste material to shake off onto the ground.
All around the town are remnants of mining and milling equipment.
This is a steel wagon wheel still attached to the axle. A compressed air tank is just to the right of the wheel.
The famous Duplex Mine in the heart of Searchlight. Owned by George Colton, it started the gold boom and subsequently the town of Searchlight.
Searchlight is dotted with old homes. I can imagine a miner walking out of this house, lunch pail in hand, to start his shift in the Duplex.
These old homes were built with almost any material that could be found.
This house must have been beautiful back in its day.
This is the largest slab of mica I've ever seen.
The cactus flowers were just beautiful! Photos just don't do justice to the beauty of these delicate flowers.
Spring rains make the desert bloom. On this outing, beautiful flowers carpeted the normally desolate desert landscape.