History
In 1914 the Death Valley Railroad started operating between Ryan, CA and Death Valley Junction. It carried borax until 1928, when operations ceased. The name of the town was changed from Amargosa ("bitter water" in a Paiute language) to Death Valley Junction. From 1923 to 1925 the Pacific Coast Borax Company constructed buildings in the town, hiring architect Alexander Hamilton McCulloch to design a Spanish Colonial Revival whistle stop centered at the hotel, theater and office complex building, now known as the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel. The town began to decline in the mid twentieth century, until 1967 when dancer and actress Marta Becket, with help from benefactors, leased, then purchased the hotel and theater complex. The Amargosa is now owned by a non-profit organization.
In 1980 the town was included in the National Register of Historic Places as the "Death Valley Junction Historic District."
The Death Valley post office opened in 1908 and transferred to Furnace Creek Ranch in 1961. The Amargosa post office opened in 1962, changed its name to Death Valley Junction in 1968.
When the Death Valley Railroad was established in 1914, it used 3.19 miles (5.13 km) of tracks belonging to the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad east-southeast of Death Valley Junction to Horton.
Read more about this topic: Death Valley Junction, California
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