| Swansea | |
|---|---|
| — Unincorporated community — | |
| Site of the smelter in Swansea | |
|
Swansea
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Inyo County |
| Elevation[1] | 3,661 ft (1,116 m) |
Swansea is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California.[1] It is located 8.5 miles (14 km) south of New York Butte,[2] at an elevation of 3661 feet (1116 m).[1]
Swansea was a boomtown located on the eastern shore of Owens Lake. Spawned by the success of the silver mining operations in the nearby Cerro Gordo Mines in the late 1860s, Swansea became a hub for smelting the ore and transporting the resulting ingots to Los Angeles, over 200 miles away. The smelter operated from 1869 to 1874.[2]
Swansea was named after the mining town Swansea in south Wales, from which many experienced miners emigrated to the USA.
The 1872 Lone Pine earthquake damaged the smelters and uplifted the shoreline, rendering the Swansea pier inaccessible by Owens Lake steamships. As a result, most of the smelting and transportation business moved to Keeler, approximately one mile to the south.
In the summer of 1874, a thunderstorm-induced debris flow inundated Swansea under several feet of water, rock and sand.[3] By then the town had been almost deserted, and the debris flow marked the end of Swansea.
As of 2007, only one building and a smelter foundation remained alongside Route 136 (about 10 miles southeast of Lone Pine).