Today, Ballarat appears almost empty, with abandoned structures standing in a landscape that once supported a busy mining community. Near Panamint Valley on the western side of Death Valley National Park, the remains of Ballarat tell the story of a mining settlement that once attracted hundreds of residents. Less than a century and a half ago, miners flocked to the settlement looking for gold, and businesses followed suit, hoping for a chance to earn money selling supplies. People even thought that Ballarat would have a future. Just one year after Ballarat was founded, hundreds of people appeared there. Nowadays, mostly ruined adobe constructions are left in this settlement.
The gold discoveries that put Ballarat on the map
