Nortons Landing, Arizona

Norton's Landing [1] or Norton's,[2]:116 was a steamboat landing on the Colorado River, in what was then Yuma County, Arizona Territory. Today it is a ghost town in La Paz County, Arizona. Nortons Landing was 52 miles up river from Yuma, Arizona 4 miles above Picacho, California and 18 miles below the Clip, Arizona landing.[3] :168 It lay on a rocky point of land next to the river at 215 feet of elevation just east of Red Cloud Wssh and Black Rock Wash, where roads to the district mines in the mountains, met the Colorado River.[1]

History

Nortons Landing was developed for the Red Cloud Mine and other nearby mines of the Silver Mining District in the Trigo Mountains. The Silver District became active in 1879 when George Sills, Neils Johnson, George W. Norton, and Gus Crawford relocated many silver claims abandoned following the death of Jacob Snively in 1871.[4]:138

The landing and settlement was named for George W. Norton who owned the Red Cloud Mine and its smelter at the landing, and had been the engineer in charge of constructing the first railroad bridge across the Colorado River, at Yuma, Arizona in 1877.[5]:746–747 The landing also had general store, and a post office called Norton's from June 4, 1883 to August 24, 1888 when it was discontinued, mail being sent to Yuma. It again had a post office from September 3, 1891 to March 13, 1894 when it was again discontinued and the town died.[2]:116

The Site Today

The site is now a ghost town in La Paz County, Arizona. Only a few foundations, mining equipment, and slag from the reduction works remain.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Nortons Landing
  2. 1 2 John and Lillian Theobald, Arizona Territory Post Offices & Postmasters, The Arizona Historical Foundation, Phoenix, 1961.
  3. ↑ Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978
  4. ↑ James E. Sherman, Barbara H. Sherman, Ghost Towns of Arizona, University of Oklahoma Press, Aug 1, 1969
  5. ↑ James H. McClintock, Arizona, Prehistoric, Aboriginal, Pioneer, Modern: The Nation's Youngest Commonwealth Within a Land of Ancient Culture, Volume 3, S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1916
  6. ↑ NORTON LANDING from ghosttowns.com accessed July 31, 2015

External links

Coordinates: 33°03′02″N 114°38′38″W / 33.05056°N 114.64389°W / 33.05056; -114.64389


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