Walker - Yavapai County

Updated: 8/20/2016

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Where: Yavapai County near Prescott

 

Operation Dates:  Post office operated in Walker from December 15, 1879 and was closed on September 30. 1940.  The town of Walker still exists with summer homes even though the mining in the area ceased in the early 20th century.

 

Noted Aspects of Town:  A charcoal Kiln still stands near the town site.  A tunnel called the Poland-Walker tunnel is no longer passible due to a collapse in 1949.  It traveled through the mountain linking Poland and Walker together.  The entrance to the tunnel is still present and water flows from the entrance at the Walker location.

 

History:  The Walker Party traveled to the area near Lynx Creek and discovered gold in the spring of 1863.  The placer gold in the area sustained activities into 1930.  As the word got out, the community of Walker began to attract more people to the area.  At its peak Walker consisted of about 2700 residence.  The town started from humble beginnings and grew to include a hotel, schools, saloons, a hospital, and post office.  The Walker post office was established on December 15, 1879 and closed in sometime in 1940.  In 1909 there was a fire in the town of Walker that destroyed much of the towns integrity.  The creek became known as Lynx Creek after a member of the Walker party named Sam C. Miller shot a Lynx nearby.

 

The Lynx Creek area yielded $2 million of gold by the 1930’s making it the largest placer gold production area in Arizona’s creek beds.  The ore was milled onsite prior to transporting by mule to the nearest rail connection.  The nearby community of Poland had the nearest rail connection but the route taken to transport ore to the rail was by a mountainous 14 miles.  A tunnel was constructed between Poland and Walker to make a more direct route to transport the ore.  The tunnel was 8,071 feet long and 8 feet tall by 12 feet wide.  Ore was transported through the tunnel to the rail connection in Poland via a narrow gauge rail that was drawn by mules.  The tunnel completion was in 1904 and cost $500,000 to build this tunnel considered a marvel of engineering at the time.

 

The mines that sustained the town were the Amulet, Mudhole, and Sheldon mines.  The Amulet mine produced high grade silver. The Mudhole mine with its main shaft reaching a depth of 740 feet included workings of 2000 feet in total.  During its operation between 1897 and 1903 the mine produced $480,000 in gold and silver.  The Sheldon Mine shaft reached a depth of 1,280 feet and included several thousand feet of workings.  The majority of the production at the Sheldon mine was during the 1920’s.

 

People:  Captain Joseph Rutherford Walker, John W. (Jack) Swilling, Sam C. Miller

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Mine(s) supporting town:  Amulet mine, Mudhole Mine, and Sheldon Mine

 

What you will see today:  Today, Walker has many summer homes scattered amongst some of the old mining concrete footings in the pine trees.  An inquisitive viewer can find some of the old mining signs by looking closely around the area and can find the old Poland-Walker tunnel on a less traveled side road.

 

Acknowledgement:  Mines near defunct town of Walker yielded silver, gold (By William Ascarza For the Arizona Daily Star - Nov 8, 2015) http://tucson.com/news/local/mines-near-defunct-town-of-walker-yielded-silver-gold/article_0a8e86fc-22eb-5bbc-9f34-36bb76ff773e.html, The Sharlot Hall Museum archives, and Ghost Towns of Arizona by James E. and Barbara H. Sherman.