Ballarat
3 1/2 miles east of this point lies Ballarat. Established in
1897 as a mining camp and supply center for the gold and
silver mines located on the western slope of the
Panamint Mountains. It was named after a well-known gold
producing area in Australia. Boasting a population of
nearly 500, it had a Wells Fargo station, post office,
school, jail, morgue, 3 hotels and 7 saloons. When the
Ratcliff Mine suspended operations in 1905, Ballarat
began to rapidly decline. After the post office closed
in September of 1917 Ballarat became a Ghost Town.
