Death Valley Junction CA

"In the spring of 1967, Marta Becket, our Death Valley Diva, peered into the old theater that would become the Amargosa Opera House and knew she was meant to perform there. She began what would become years of painstaking work, painting an entire audience on the walls, filled with characters who might have attended an opera back in 16th century Spain. It took four years to complete the murals on the walls. For the following summers she stood every day on the scaffold painting a blue sky filled with cherubs, clouds, the four winds, and a central dome with 16 ladies playing antique instruments."

This was the description of a virtual geocache Hubby and I were looking for when we got to the intersection of state highways 190 & 127 just east of Death Valley National Park.

What we actually saw was a ghost town. The population is less than 20, and maybe 4. 

From Wikipedia: "In 1914, the Death Valley Railroad started operating between Ryan, California and Death Valley Junction. It carried borax until 1928, when operations ceased. The name of the town was changed to Death Valley Junction from Amargosa (bitter in Spanish, most likely meaning "bitter water", as the Spanish words aguaand amargosa are feminine). 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-20th century. However, in 1967 dancer and actress Marta Becket happened to visit due to an automobile repair. She became enamored with the theater, and with help from benefactors, she leased, then purchased, the hotel and theater complex. The Amargosa is now owned by a non-profit organization.

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.

In 1980 the town was included in the National Register of Historic Places as the "Death Valley Junction Historic District."

National Register of Historic Places plaque

doors to the opera house

the opera house was not open when we stopped

the hotel part of the Amargosa Opera House

which is available for room rental, according to the 

Amargosa Opera House web page

Red Skeleton stayed here four times

note the dates 

November 2015 - May 2016

Although Marta Becket (born Martha Becket August 9, 1924) no longer dances, (she retired in 2012) the ballet continues in the opera house. Jenna McClintock was six years old when she saw Marta dance at the Amargosa Opera House. Jenna was inspired to learn ballet. After a career with the Oakland Ballet Company, Jenna returned to Death Valley Junction to thank Marta, and decided to stay. She lives there and performs ballet on the stage Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sundays at 2:00 PM. Tickets cost $20.

There is no gas station in Death Valley Junction; no grocery store and the cafe is now closed. (Who would run it if there are only 4 people living in Death Valley Junction?)

You know how sometimes a story just grabs you and you want to know more? The Who? The What? The When? The Why? That is what happened to me when I saw the poster and saw the dates 2015-2016. The geocache was created in 2004 when Marta Becket was still performing her ballet and mime on the stage. I wondered what happened to Marta? Obviously the Opera House was still open if there were ballet performances. So I researched. And researched some more. I wish I would have had more time to explore some of the other historic buildings in the 'almost' ghost town. I wish I had had the time to walk around the building. But, I didn't so the research had to satisfy some of my wonderings. All because of geocaching...