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Atlantic City, 1870. Photo by William Henry Jackson.
Some 4 1/2 miles from South Pass City was Atlantic City founded in 1868 by
Tozier, Collins & Thompson with the discovery of the Atlantic Lode. By 1870,
the town supposedly attained a population of 2,000. This, as in the case of
South Pass City, was probably an exaggeration. The 1870 census only reflected
a population of 321 whites and 4 blacks.
Atlantic City, approx. 1914.
On the hill on the upper right in the
above photo is the Dexter Mill.
The Dexter Mill, also known as the
Timba Bah mill was constructed between 1905 and 1908 and had twenty 1,050 lb stamps. The mill was also
equipped for cyanide treatment. With the fading of the 1901 gold boom in the South Pass area, the
mill was never in regular operation. The stamping mill would process small quantities of ore brought
in on wagons. The cyanide plant was never put into operation.
Dexter Mill and Mine, Atlantic City, 1911.
The Dexter Mining & Milling Co. was unable to find any
ore bodies on its property. In 1914, it was placed in bankruptcy and reorganized as the Timba Bah Mining
Company. Writing in 1914, the State Geologist, L. M. Trumbull, in a report on the Atlantic City Gold Mining
District explained:
At Atlantic City is the Dexter Mill, now part of the
property of the Timba Bah Mining Company. This mill
is an example of the kind of mine management that furnishes
the topic for so many stories and jokes among real mining
men. The mill, costing several times its value, was built
beside the townsite and the manager's office, although there
was no mine near and the slope was too slight to allow the
material to be handled by gravity. After the completion
of the mill, ore was hauled in wagons from various prospects
in the district. Twelve thousand tons of five to thirty
dollar ore were milled, and the cleanup gave six thousand
dollars off the plates and absolutely nothing from the cyanide
plant. After the company had sold seven hundred thousand
dollars' worth of stock, it became bankrupt. Fraud
and ignorance played about equal parts in the management
of the company affairs. The whole affair naturally was no
help to the reputation of the district.
Hyde's Hall, Atlantic City, 1977
The building was constructed by J. W. Anthony and was used by Robert McAuley as a store.
The building was originally two stories. Following an earthquake the second story was removed. In
the 1920's the building was renovated by Tom Hyde who used it as a dance hall. On the hill, on private property, behind the
hall, is a single lonely marked grave, "Lydia Mae, only daughter of R. & L. McAuley, 1874."
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Atlantic City, 1977
St. Andrew's was consecrated in 1913.
Mines in Atlantic City included, the
Atlantic City Mine,
Caribou mine
Caroline mine,
Ground Hog Mine,
Mary Ellen mine,
Rose Mine,
Snowbird Mine,
St Louis Mines,
Tabor Grand Mine, and
Goodhope Mine.
Atlantic City
The town claimed the honor of
having the first brewery in the Territory. Atlantic City was noted for its "French"
section which appealed to lonely miners. After the intial gold rush the town
began to fade until the arrival of Emil Granier who attempted to revive mining.
Unfortunately, several mine explosions killed his hopes and he returned to
his native France destitute and spent his last years in debtors' prison.
Hopes for the town's revival again arose in the 1962 with the coming of surface
iron ore mining, but were dashed with cessation of operations in 1983.
The third city of the South Pass Mining District was Miner's Delight, started by
Jack Holbrook.
But if the French Section of Atlantic City provided companionship, Miner's Delight, the
next camp, may have been lonely. James Chisholm in his Journal, University of Nebraska Press,
described the women of Miner's Delight:
Society in the city of Miner's Delight consists of three females. The
first is a plump, dumpling-faced woman built very much in the shape of a bale of
cotton drawn together in the middle, and with a big coal scuttle on the top. She has one
white haired little darling and she does right onto it. The second is a shadowy secluded kind of being whose profile
I have had a few passing glimpses of while passing her cabin door. I don't
know sho or what she dotes onto. The third I will call Dalilah. She is an
adventuress. She dotes onto Jack Holbrook. Jack is interested in the Miner's
Delight and she is interested in Jack.
Dalilah is not beautiful. She is not handsome. Her face is lean and
spotty and unhealthy looking, and the upper part of her form is like an old
whale bone umbrella not properly folded. She was not a respectable person when she
first struck the camp, but she is now studying virtue under Jack.
Cabin, Miners Delight
The privy to the right and behind the cabin is a "two-holer." See photo below right.
Miners Delight, originally Hamilton City, located about 2 1/2 miles from
Atlantic City, received its start with the discovery of the Miner's Delight
Mine in September 1867. By 1869, some $60,000-$70,000 in gold had been recovered
from the mine resulting in the change of name from Hamilton City to Miner's Delight.
By 1870, the town had attained a population of 70 including 40 miners, 1 farmer, and 1
liquor dealer. Mining declined and between 1882 and 1907 the town was completely
abandoned. Mines in Miner's Delight included
the Diana mine,
Garfield Mine,
Gold Dollar Mine, and
Miner's Delight Mine.
In 1907, the Miners Delight Mining Company attempted to resume
mining. During the depression many of the otherwise abandoned cabins were
occupied by the jobless. Most of the sructures in the town date to the 1907
period, it being doubtful than any structures date back to the original town.
More ghost towns on next page.
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