Wall Street Mill
Encyclopedia
The Wall Street Mill in Joshua Tree National Park
was a complete and operable gold ore crushing mill featuring late-19th Century two-stamp mill
machinery. Consequently the significance encompasses the mill machinery, the building which houses it, the well which supplied water for the mill's operation, and the well pump. It is the only gold
ore crushing mill in the region that retains integrity.
The stamp mill building is framed with heavy timber and built on a downward sloping hillside to take advantage of gravity in the milling process. The roof and some of the exterior walls are covered with corrugated sheet metal, while some of the exterior walls have either vertical or horizontal wooden siding. At the top of the building a long wooden ramp supports the track of an ore tramway which carried ore from where it was unloaded from trucks to the top of the mill above the two-stamp Baker Iron Works crusher. A gasoline engine powered the mill; it was built by the Western Gas Engine Company of Los Angeles. A Myer concentrating table was used in separating the gold from the ore.
The complex included the mill, a well, a bunkhouse and an outhouse. The supporting buildings are largely ruinous.
The mill was built by Bill Keys, a local rancher, miner and character, using equipment moved from Pinon Wells. In the 1940's, Keys was involved in a dispute with Worth Bagley over access to the Wall Street Mill. Keys shot and killed Bagley in 1943 and placed a stone commemorating the event with the inscription: "Here is where Worth Bagley bit the dust at the hand of W. F. Keys, May 11, 1943." The marker is not a part of the Wall Street Mill historic district.
Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 when the U.S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act , it had previously been a U.S. National Monument since 1936. It is named for the Joshua tree forests native to the park...
was a complete and operable gold ore crushing mill featuring late-19th Century two-stamp mill
Stamp mill
A stamp mill is a type of mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking material down is a type of unit operation....
machinery. Consequently the significance encompasses the mill machinery, the building which houses it, the well which supplied water for the mill's operation, and the well pump. It is the only gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
ore crushing mill in the region that retains integrity.
The stamp mill building is framed with heavy timber and built on a downward sloping hillside to take advantage of gravity in the milling process. The roof and some of the exterior walls are covered with corrugated sheet metal, while some of the exterior walls have either vertical or horizontal wooden siding. At the top of the building a long wooden ramp supports the track of an ore tramway which carried ore from where it was unloaded from trucks to the top of the mill above the two-stamp Baker Iron Works crusher. A gasoline engine powered the mill; it was built by the Western Gas Engine Company of Los Angeles. A Myer concentrating table was used in separating the gold from the ore.
The complex included the mill, a well, a bunkhouse and an outhouse. The supporting buildings are largely ruinous.
The mill was built by Bill Keys, a local rancher, miner and character, using equipment moved from Pinon Wells. In the 1940's, Keys was involved in a dispute with Worth Bagley over access to the Wall Street Mill. Keys shot and killed Bagley in 1943 and placed a stone commemorating the event with the inscription: "Here is where Worth Bagley bit the dust at the hand of W. F. Keys, May 11, 1943." The marker is not a part of the Wall Street Mill historic district.
See also
- Keys Desert Queen RanchKeys Desert Queen RanchThe Keys Ranch is the prime example of early settlement in the Joshua Tree National Park area. Bill Keys was the area's leading character, and his ranch is a symbol of the resourcefulness of early settlers. The ranch is an extensive complex of small frame buildings built between 1910 and Keys'...
- Desert Queen MineDesert Queen MineThe Desert Queen Mine was one of the more successful and long-lived mines of the high desert in Riverside County, California. The abandoned mine is located in Joshua Tree National Park....
- Cow CampCow CampCow Camp, located in Joshua Tree National Park, was associated with cattle rustling in the 1880s and 1890s. It was then later used as a line camp for cattle ranching. A stone chimney, two small dams, watering troughs and a well remain. One dam was built by local rancher and character William F....
- Barker Dam