Oro Grande California

ORO GRANDE

Long ago, before Route 66 passed through Oro Grande, California, the community bustled. In the late 1800's, the Indians established a trading post with the adventurous Mormons, who passed through here while making their way from Salt Lake City, Utah to San Bernardino, California. Oro Grande is 3000' high in the Mojave Desert of southern California, about 45 miles north of San Bernardino and 90 miles from Los Angeles.

During the period of gold discoveries, one of the mines was named Oro Grande, or Big Gold. Miners flocked to Oro Grande and established homes and a post office. Soon, the railroad was built through the Cajon Pass to Oro Grande. For awhile the town was named Halleck, however, eventually it was changed back to Oro Grande.

In those days, a weekly stage coach from the Butterfield Company brought passengers along the dry Mojave River bed though Oro Grande on their way to the Panamint; a range of mountains about 200 miles north. The lure of gold and silver in the Panamints brought miners in search of their fortune. The old stage stop in Oro Grande was replaced by a more modern structure in the early 1900's.

The railroad brought a great change to the desert and helped the small town to grow. Enormous deposits of silica and lime were discovered in Oro Grande and that began a new type of mining. In 1907, a cement plant was started near the rail line running through Oro Grande. Using cottonwood from the riverbank as fuel, a crude lime was used in mixing the mortar.

Today, the cement plant in Oro Grande had its origins from that frugal beginning. It was this plant that brought people to the community. Who would have thought that British pound sterling helped to develop the plant? Mrs. Potts, the original owner, was able to prove to English investors that in quarrying limestone for the cement plant, rich deposits of gold ore would be uncovered. Therefore, the investors would reap a double return on their investment; gold and cement.

The community of Oro Grande has had its ups and downs. At one time, the plant provided company houses for their workers. The homes are still there but now are privately owned. Abandoned buildings are ghostly reminders of the little towns' history. Driving the National Trails Highway, it's easy to spot the abandoned buildings standing as ghostly reminders of another time. A few miles beyond Oro Grande, on old Route 66, stand three rock buildings; one said to be an old stage stop.

Route 66 brought over two million cars over the National Trails Highway in 1961 on their way through the Victor Valley to the blue waters of the Pacific. Today cement dust still swirls around the mill, dusting the sleepy little community of Oro Grande, on old Route 66.

_{Submitted by Joyce Wade 1999 All rights reserved}