Cerro Gordo, a remote California ghost town in the mountains near Death Valley, is being brought back to life nearly 100 years after it was abandoned.
Brent Underwood, who purchased the town with friends using his life savings, has been working for the last six years to restore it and share its history with visitors.
During a live interview, he told California Tonight Host Edie Lambert, “growing up, I’ve always had a love of history and hospitality.” Underwood said he may have been influenced by the show “Gunsmoke,” which his grandfather used to watch.
“It seemed like the West always had these problems to solve and adventures to have. I feel like I get to live out the Gunsmoke lifestyle every day up here.”
Cerro Gordo was established as a mining town around 1865, originally as a small mining camp. The town was initially focused on silver mining, which lasted from the 1860s into the 1880s. At its peak, Cerro Gordo was home to California’s largest silver mine, producing what would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of silver when adjusted for inflation.
Cerro Gordo first became a ghost town in the 1890’s but saw a brief revival in the 1910s when L.D. Gordon began mining zinc. Mining operations continued until World War II, when the mine was shut down, and the town was abandoned once again. Since then, Cerro Gordo has remained dormant, waiting for its next chapter.
Underwood is now working to restore the town and make it accessible to visitors.
“My hope is always just to have more people visit it. I think it’s an important town from an important part of California’s history,” he said.
Cerro Gordo currently features a small museum that visitors can explore free of charge. Underwood’s long-term vision includes building a hotel with a bar, restaurant, and eight rooms to allow guests to stay overnight. He has posted videos on his YouTube channel, Ghost Town Living, showing construction of the hotel and his work to drill for water.
“The natural beauty is stunning,” Underwood said. He said his views include the Sierra Nevada with Mount Whitney in one direction, and Death Valley National Park in another. “It’s a very stunning place with a lot of rich history. I just want more people to be able to experience it.”
Underwood has also delved into the history of the miners who once worked in Cerro Gordo. He’s been finding their stories as he explores some of the 30 miles of mine shafts. Miners wrote their names on the walls using soot from carbide lamps, or carved their names into the walls. These clues into the past date from the 1880’s into the 1940s.
“Sure, the main owners of the town get their page in the history book, but it’s really these miners that have been forgotten that made up the history here.”
He has been working to track down the descendants of these miners, some of whom he has invited to visit Cerro Gordo.
“It’s cool to find the descendants of these guys who, by a very dim light back in the day, put their name on the wall, trying to be remembered. And now to be able to invite some of their descendants up here, it’s cool. It’s kind of a full-circle moment for me,” Underwood said.
Click here for more information about Cerro Gordo.
Click here to see Underwood’s videos of Cerro Gordo.
This story was featured as part of our new California Tonight show. It airs Monday-Friday at 7:30 p.m. Watch on KCRA and KSBW.