Good Hope Mine
Encyclopedia
Good Hope Mine was the principal gold mine
in the Pinacate Mining District
, Riverside County, California
.
Good Hope Mine was reputedly discovered by a Frenchman named Mache, although the washes in the area were originally placer mined by Mexicans in the 1850's during the California Gold Rush
using arrastras. The Good Hope quartz vein was discovered in 1874.. Americans later bought the mine and worked it.
In 1881 with the arrival of the California Southern Railroad
nearby at Pinacate
a five-stamp mill was constructed to crush the ore from the mine and developed the underground quartz deposit. In the 1890s an eastern corporation, the Good Hope Mining Company, took control and brought in a twenty five stamp mill which was powered by coal
from nearby Terra Cotta, California
. The mine produced about $2 million in gold before 1896. The mine operated steadily until about 1903, being worked to a depth of 575 feet. An attempt was made in the 1930s by metallurgist James M. Hyde to reopen the mine. This effort was largely unsuccessful; the Good Hope Mine closed when it was flooded with underground water.
The mine site is located between Lake Elsinore
and Perris just west of Highway 74 between Richard and Eugene Streets. The mine workers settled in the area which took the name of the mine and is now a populated place to the north called Good Hope
.
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
in the Pinacate Mining District
Pinacate Mining District
The Pinacate Mining District is a five to eight miles southwest of Perris, California. It included the Good Hope Mine, Steele's Mine, Santa Rosa Mine, Virginia or Shay Mine, Santa Fe Mine and many other smaller works like the Little Maggie Mine. It produced a total of about 104,000 ounces of...
, Riverside County, California
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...
.
Good Hope Mine was reputedly discovered by a Frenchman named Mache, although the washes in the area were originally placer mined by Mexicans in the 1850's during the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
using arrastras. The Good Hope quartz vein was discovered in 1874.. Americans later bought the mine and worked it.
In 1881 with the arrival of the California Southern Railroad
California Southern Railroad
The California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow and San Diego,...
nearby at Pinacate
Pinacate, California
Pinacate, , was a small settlement east of the Pinacate Mining District in Riverside County, California. It was established when the California Southern Railroad line was built between Colton and San Diego in 1882...
a five-stamp mill was constructed to crush the ore from the mine and developed the underground quartz deposit. In the 1890s an eastern corporation, the Good Hope Mining Company, took control and brought in a twenty five stamp mill which was powered by coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
from nearby Terra Cotta, California
Terra Cotta, California
Terra Cotta, California is a former mining town in Riverside County. It was established in 1887, in the Warm Springs Valley northwest of the town of Lake Elsinore, and later incorporated into the City of Lake Elsinore....
. The mine produced about $2 million in gold before 1896. The mine operated steadily until about 1903, being worked to a depth of 575 feet. An attempt was made in the 1930s by metallurgist James M. Hyde to reopen the mine. This effort was largely unsuccessful; the Good Hope Mine closed when it was flooded with underground water.
The mine site is located between Lake Elsinore
Lake Elsinore, California
For the lake see Lake Elsinore.Lake Elsinore or LE is a city in western Riverside County, California. The population was 51,821 at the 2010 census...
and Perris just west of Highway 74 between Richard and Eugene Streets. The mine workers settled in the area which took the name of the mine and is now a populated place to the north called Good Hope
Good Hope, California
Good Hope is a census-designated place in Riverside County, California. Good Hope sits at an elevation of . The 2010 United States census reported Good Hope's population was 9,192.-Geography:...
.
Sources
- Report of the State Mineralogist, California State Mining Bureau, State Office, 1893, pg. 384-385
- Tom Hudson, Lake Elsinore Valley, its story 1776-1977, 2nd Ed., Published by author, 1988. ISBN 0-931700-01-9
- Riverside County California Gold Production