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This page last updated on 04/22/2019
The town was born in the nineteenth century from two overland wagon trails that crossed on the east slope of Ivanpah Valley. One east-west trail carried people and freight from the Colorado River to the silver mining town of Ivanpah. The other, a north-south trail went from the mining community of Goodsprings to Goffs, a station on the Santa Fe Railroad (the Southern Route). This page last updated on 04/22/2019
1900 - The discovery of gold at the turn of the 20th Century in the Crescent District drew attention to the wagon crossroad. Gold was discovered in the Crescent District – New York Mountains near Crescent Peak, Nevada about 5 miles east of a small community at a wagon crossroads in Ivanpah Valley. The apex claim, given the name “Nippeno”, was staked on Jan 1, 1900.(Nippeno Patent -U.S. Archives) The crossroads wagon community becomes known as the Nippeno Camp, a place where the miners lived. This would eventually become the town site and the place named Nipton.
1904 - In 1885, Nevada Senator William Clark, a Montana copper baron, was determined to connect Salt Lake City to Los Angeles by rail. His company completed building the railroad in the winter of 1904/1905. When complete it passed immediately by the crossroad and Nippeno Camp. The San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake railroad brought new traffic to the little crossroads community. The whistle-stop on the railroad time tables was designated as “Nippeno Camp”. Passengers bringing freight and cattle from the neighboring region traveled to Nippeno Camp as it was the most accessible railhead for transit to the east-Salt Lake City and Chicago, and to the west-Los Angeles. The first train from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles ran on February 9, 1905 with Senator Wm. Clark aboard.
1905-1910 - Sometime during this period, the original construction of Hotel Nipton was completed. There were mining boom days in Nippeno with active exploration and development in the Crescent District. A stage coach line between Searchlight, Nevada and Nippeno was established during this period to carry passengers and freight to Nippeno and the railhead. Stage travel continued to be reported through 1926. By 1910 the S.P., L.A., & S.L. line had been merged into Harriman’s Union Pacific Railroad System.To avoid confusion with Nippomo, another stop on RR time tables, the name of the crossroads community had been changed to Nipton.
1913 - Harry Trehearne, a Cornish miner from England, immigrated to America and was naturalized in Las Vegas in 1913. Settling down in Nipton, he opened a general store and pursued the development of the community, which included restoring the Hotel Nipton and digging the first water well. He was also active in many local mine explorations and developments. Harry met Ella Mae and they married, establishing a family home in Nipton.
1920's to 1940: Harry Trehearne leased the railroad station site (20 acres) from Union Pacific R.R. in the mid-20’s. On August 1st, 1935 they filed homestead papers under the ‘homestead' act by the California General Land Office. On April 10, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt completed the process, signing the homestead thus transferring the title of the land from the United States to Harry Trehearne, granting him ownership of a 120 acre site known as Nipton, California.
1924: In 1924 Harry Trehearne completed construction of the original (wooden) store and began doing business under the trade name Nipton Mercantile Company. He also made $3,000 worth of upgrades and repairs to Hotel Nipton making it more suitable for occupancy. A light plant, equipped with 2 KOHLER 5kW generators, was constructed at Nipton in 1929 to provide electricity for the townsite. Circa 1937-1940, a 550 deep water well was dug by hand. The installation of a pump provided a 8 gpm capacity.
1937-1940: Under Trehearnes direction, an original water well was dug by hand, in miners manner of sinking a shaft, to a depth of 550 feet below surface. In 1940 a pump was installed in water well-- drawing 8 gpm capacity.
1949: Harry Trehearne passed away in 1949 and Nipton passed into other hands. From 1956–84, the town passed through the hands of six owners.
1984: From 1956–84, through the years leading up to 1984, the Nipton property passed into the stewardship of six various owners. After a period of neglect, Nipton was purchased by the Gerald Freeman family in 1984. In 1984, the Freeman Family (d.b.a. Provident Corporation) took possession of the Nipton town site under provisions of a lease with option to purchase. Escrow on the purchase of the Nipton town site closed in January of 1985 at a purchase price of $200,000. A bill that exempted the Nipton land parcels from inclusion in the Mojave National Preserve by Act of Congress was signed by President Bill Clinton on October 31, 1994. Much of Nipton has been restored since then. The Freeman’s first efforts included the restoration and renovation of Hotel Nipton and the promotion of it as a Bed and Breakfast Inn, and the reforming of the general store into the Nipton Trading Post as a gift and convenience store. Nipton Station, a recreational vehicle park, was developed to provide temporary living accommodations for workers in the local gold mines. A new future is being charted as a gateway community to Mojave National Preserve. The new emphasis for Nipton is as a host location for tourism and a hub for art and nature educational workshops. This is a shift from its traditional role in mining, ranching and railroading.
Over the next 28 years, Gerald Freeman has struggled to make much of the place, spending roughly $1 million on improvements and restoration costs. His goal was to make Nipton a sustainable “green” hospitality and tourist center for nature lovers headed into the neighboring Mojave National Preserve. After putting up a 80-kilowatt solar installation, enough to power 95% of the towns needs, he recently began selling hats emblazoned with the hamlet's new motto: "Nipton, powered by the sun." In the next decade, Freeman envisioned energy-efficient buildings, an organic farm, electric vehicle charging stations and even more solar installations. On the northern edge of the Mojave National Preserve, home of the popular Kelso Dunes, it is his hope that Nipton will eventually become an eco-tourism mecca. Many park visitors favor environmentalism, and they often stay at campgrounds and hotels in Nipton. Gerald and the town are betting that stepping up its environmental reputation will drive tourism growth.
2015: In 2015, when Freeman’s health began to decline, he put the town up for sale for $5 million. Included in the price tag were 80 acres, an underground water source, the solar plant, the trading post, the hotel, ecocabins, an abandoned schoolhouse, and two small houses. He wanted to sell the town to someone who would keep his dream of creating a sustainable tourist destination alive, but he died before that happened, leaving the fate of the town’s sale up to his wife.
2017: In September 2017, Nipton was purchased by American Green Inc., for $5 million USD with plans to turn the town into a cannabis tourism destination. The CEO of American Green Inc hoped to make this into the first "Pot Town, USA". American Green Inc. sold the town in March 2018 after failing to attract the capital investment necessary to continue the project. The town was sold to Delta International Oil & Gas for a total of $7.7 million USD in debt assumption and Delta preferred stock, along with a provision that it continue with the project to transform the 80-acre town on the edge of the Mojave Desert into a cannabis-themed resort.
2018: On March 15, 2018, American Green, Inc. announced that it has agreed to transfer its holdings in Nipton, California to Delta International Oil & Gas, Inc. for consideration totaling more than $7.73 Million. Under the Agreement, American Green will manage Nipton and associated projects for 5 years with a 5-year option. Delta will seek to acquire additional properties subsequent to the Nipton acquisition. Both parties intend for American Green to manage those properties as well. At closing, Delta will assume approximately $3.73 Million in American Green debt, and issue $4 Million in Delta Series A Secured Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series A Stock”), convertible to 160,000,000 shares of Delta Common Stock. The Series A Stock will pay a 5% annual dividend, in stock or cash and will be secured by a lien against the Nipton properties.
It should be noted here that while some of the initial news stories the Nipton purchase generated in the press indicated the purchaser’s intent to immediately begin leasing land to cannabis growers (or even growing cannabis itself,) that is not and never has been the company’s intent for the area. Only when, and if, American Green (as manager) and Delta (as owner) receive full approval from the relevant controlling authorities, would Nipton move, responsibly, into the cannabis product development sector. As the Nipton Project develops in the future, the company will continue to interact with all state, county, and, hopefully federal, agencies to ensure it is acting entirely within the requisite legal guidelines in this, and all other projects the company undertakes.
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