EAGLE MOUNTAIN

Eagle Mountain, California is a modern day ghost town founded in 1948 by iron magnate Henry J. Kaiser. The town is located at the entrance of the now-defunct Eagle Mountain iron mine, once owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad and located on the southeastern corner of Joshua Tree National Park

Production at Fontana began in 1948 and a mining town was constructed below what was soon to become Southern California’s largest iron mine. It connected to the Southern Pacific via a 51-mile-long (82 km) railroad branch known as the Eagle Mountain Railroad.

It ran southwest from the mine to the northeast shore of the Salton Sea, just north of the Riverside/Imperial county line. Ore shipments to Fontana steel plant began in October, with five to eight 100-car trains running weekly.

On November 3, 1981, Kaiser Corporation announced the phasing out of half the Fontana works and the entire Eagle Mountain Mine operation over several years. The population dwindled as layoffs began. The grocery store closed in October 1982 and the post office, which had been active since 1951, closed in January 1983.

In June of that year the last official graduating class celebrated their commencement at Eagle Mountain High School, followed by closing of both the mine and mill. The old high school is now the current site of Eagle Mountain Elementary School, which continues in operation (as of 2008).

As of July 18th, 2007, the town of Eagle Mountain is no longer openly-accessible. The perimeter of both the town and mine has been fenced and gated, with a site manager appointed to handle access requests.

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