Unlike many of the sites we visit, Atolia has tons of data out on the web. Its relatively modern past from 1907 to 2007 combined with its extremely convenient location only yards off Highway 395 has lead to dozens of explorer/photographer/historian types posting lengthy post and blogs.
…fighting a nasty creamy white substance…
With that being said we wont overdue the history here but summarize in our usual fashion. Atolia’s formation in 1907 came after nearby gold mining towns of Randsburg and Johannesburg had been fighting a nasty creamy white substance known as Heavy Spar in their placer operations. Eventually someone identified it as Tungsten ore. In 1905 a Thomas McCarthy found a 40 lb football sized chunk of tungsten ore and formed the Papoose Mine. It was 1907 that Atkins and Degolia combined their names to build the first tungsten mill here and name the camp Atolia.
Atolia became the largest tungsten producer in the world…
The peak of the boom was 1916 as the price of tungsten kept skyrocketing. Atolia became the largest tungsten producer in the world with four restaurants, three general stores, four pool halls, 60 pupil school and even a movie theater. Cheap Chinese tungsten ore sealed Atolia’s fate as a major producer.
Current weather in Atolia…
Today very little to none of that boom still exist. There are literally hundreds of open shafts covering many acres with only a few head frames and an empty ball mill still standing. Definitely not a place to let the kids or the dog wonder around. Legend has it that many of the mines in the area were worked until 2007 which would explain the few scattered badly vandalized remaining structures. Google maps shows Atolia broken into dozens of parcels like you would see in any other neighborhood. A quick google search will also yield “Jobs in Atolia” and “Yelp for Atolia” and of course “Current weather in Atolia”. Possibly currently BLM owned, if so that means you and I now own it. Left to deal with quite an expensive mess, or not, maybe just leave it. Mother nature with the help of vandals and thieves will reclaim her in due time.
