Ehrenberg AZ

Ehrenberg Cemetery

Ehrenberg, La Paz County, Arizona

Here’s a little history on this historical site

This cemetery dates to about 1862 with the last burial being in 1988. There are about 40 grave sites, most without markers. Wood crosses mark the remaining graves. The Ehrenberg chamber of commerce is attempting to preserve and maintain the cemetery.

The gravesites are mostly unmarked and consist of nothing more than piles of rocks.  A sign indicated that the cemetery dated back to the early settlers who ventured across the country in covered wagons and on horseback.

Ehrenberg, a desert community alongside the Colorado River, has a colorful history.

 It was founded in 1863 as Mineral City by German mining engineer Herman Ehrenberg when he was hired to survey a new townsite along the Colorado River, approximately 6 miles from La Paz, Arizona. The new community was located at the site of William and Isaac Bradshaw's ferry landing. The town was renamed Ehrenberg in 1869 after the surveyor and mining engineer, who was murdered in Dos Palmas, California, in 1866.

Tools indicative the the early settlers are imbedded

in the base of the monument.

The town attracted miners and by 1869 had grown large enough to win a post office. Over the next several years the town continued to grow, surpassing La Paz. The population of La Paz dwindled, and many storekeepers relocated to Ehrenberg.

By the mid - 1870s Ehrenberg was booming, with nearly 500 people living mostly in brush and adobe houses. Mike Goldwater, grandfather of former Senator Barry Goldwater, established a mercantile store and warehouse there.

In the 1870s, when the Colorado River served as a main source of transportation to the interior of the Arizona territory, Ehrenberg became a major port. Gold crazed Californians crossed the Colorado River at Ehrenberg during the great La Paz rush.

Less than 2 miles north of Ehrenberg lie the remains of the early - day La Paz, which was at one time considered for the capital of Arizona. La Paz, was flooded in late 1800s or early 1900s and the population moved down river to Ehrenberg, which itself suffered a population exodus in the early 1900s.

Late 1800's ~ "Ehrenberg is a brisk town one hundred and thirty miles above Yuma, and next to Yuma the largest shipping town on the Colorado River. The population is about 300. Most of the freight for Prescott, Wickenburg, and the country east is transshipped at this town. There is a public school, Catholic church, general stage offices of the California and Arizona Stage Company. Several fine stores and private dwellings may be found here." University of Arizona Library

Ehrenberg's post office was established September 20, 1869 and discontinued December 31, 1913. By the early 1900's, the railroads had taken place of the steamboats and most of the population of Ehrenberg had move elsewhere.

The remains of what used to be a wagon.

The wooden wheels were removed by 'vandals'.

The unincorporated community has a Mohave Desert setting 200 feet above sea level, a population of 1200, an elementary school, one hotel and several restaurants. Hunting, fishing, river water sports, agriculture, desert sports and the winter visitors are the backbone of Ehrenberg's economy and community.