It's an Arizona Secret, a "living ghost town" with ancient petroglyphs, adventure at every turn, cool wildlife and interesting shopping. It is a great getaway from it all vacation. Chloride is known as the "Gem of the Cerbats."
There are trails that appeal to ATVs, horses, jeeps, hikers and ore. This is a great place to come and explore. Chloride is located in the foothills of the Cerbat Mountains and is hard to beat.
Chloride, Arizona was founded in 1862 with the discovery of silver ore and is an old mining camp that never quite died. Silver, Gold, lead, zinc, and turquoise have been found in the area. Today some of the mines are privately owned while others are on public land. At one time there was over 72 mines operating in Chloride. The name Chloride came from the silver chloride found in the hills among other minerals in the area. Silver chloride is used in photographic emulsions and antiseptic silver solutions.
 Chloride is the oldest continuously inhabited mining town in the state of Arizona. Old Miner's Day commences the last Saturday in June and is the biggest event of the year for Chloride. Festivities commemorate mining days when Chloride was the silver mining capitol of Arizona.
Stage coaches and trains once served Chloride, today is the auto, ATV, Jeeps and horse back. The Butterfield Stage served Chloride from 1868 through 1919 and stopped at what is now Yesterday's Restaurant.
The Santa Fe Railroad came into town from Kingman in 1898 until 1935. It was known as the B&F, back and forth. The railway station still stands today and is fairly intact, but the tracks are long gone.
Today this ghost town mining camp of about 350 people still has the flavor of the old west. There are ghosts of buildings that used to be lived in, ghosts of mines that used to be producing minerals, and ghosts of people that used to live here. |
