Stamp Mill

The Holt Hoft Machinery Stamp Mill. All images: Leica M11 w Apo-Summicron 50mm

I lament how litigious the world has become. Common sense has given way to blatant stupidity being rewarded with massive sums of money. Personal accountability is essentially non-existant, and the government now has to do what it can to prevent getting sued by the next idiot finding a way to injure himself. 

Because of that, everything is shut down, boarded up, closed off and on patrol. I was ticketed last year for being in a forest that was "closed" because it snowed. That's right. I was fined for heading into nature while nature did nature things. And we aren't talking feet of snow. We are talking a couple inches. Santa Barbara snow.

Cool, old stuff is often dangerous. Safety wasn't a primary concern when they built any of this one hundred and twenty years ago, and after some seventy plus years of neglect and deterioration rarely does anything become safer.

This spool would hoist the carts up and down the shaft

This is the other side of that same spool, showing the geared wheel more.

It's pretty rare to be able to just wander into a place like this anymore. There were probably signs I may or may not have seen telling me to stay out and warning of danger. No rangers, sheriff or police around to ticket me. Just me and my camera, good boots and lots of curiosity. 

What do you mean it's not safe?

This is an old gold mine. The shaft is still wide open with a ladder going down, though I wasn't feeling adventurous enough to explore how deep . Streams of light came in through the gaps in the plank walls, allowing me just enough to shoot some of the machinery. I didn't know much about what I was looking at, but was able to piece together the use of each thing and the processes taking place.

I suspect this gate is a control for the ore flow

Close up of the cam shaft that lifted each of the heads. Just a bit of grease and blue paint.

Researching it later, I came to find out this was a California stamp mill, which used a wood fired boiler to drive the wheels and generate electricity. It looks like it may have been converted to all electric at some point, probably during the thirties or forties. I always find it funny when looking into something I appreciate, only to find a bunch of other people thoroughly into it. Of course there are mining geeks out there.

This belt drove the main shaft of the mill. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

I'm not inclined to say much more that would identify it. If it sees much more traffic than it already does, I'm sure ol' Sam will protect the masses from its dangers.