Logo Picture Left SideLogo Picture Right SideLogo Text at Center
Home > Search > Site Map > California > Structures and Monuments in Which California Stone was Used > Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument

The Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument &
Stone Masonry Kiln Ruins

Located 7 miles north of Cartago, Inyo County, California

Manual Castro, the manager of F. W. Aggregates (owner and operator of the dolomite quarries located near Lone Pine, once known as the Inyo Marble Company Quarries) donated this and other large pieces of dolomite quarried from the F. W. Aggregates quarries for use as local monuments.  (The following photographs were taken by Peggy B. and Pat Perazzo in late September 2010.) More information and photographs of the Inyo Marble quarries and present-day F. W. Aggregates dolomite quarries are available in the “Inyo Dolomite/Marble Company Quarries” section of our web site. 

Continued on Page 1 2

Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument no. of Cartago, Inyo Co., CA Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument no. of Cartago, Inyo Co., CA View of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln Ruins, no. of Cartago, Inyo Co., CA

The Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument of dolomite quarried near Lone Pine (above & to the right)

 

View of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln Ruins as they looked in late September 2010
One of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln monument plaques, no. of Cartago, Inyo Co., CA One of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln monument plaques, no. of Cartago, Inyo Co., CA

The large, upright plaque for the monument (transcription at the bottom of this page)

The small plaque for the monument (transcription at the bottom
of this page)
Close-up photographs of the dolomite stone used for the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument, no. of Cartago, Inyo Co., CA Close-up photographs of the dolomite stone used for the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument, no. of Cartago, Inyo Co., CA Close-up photographs of the dolomite stone used for the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument, no. of Cartago, Inyo Co., CA

 

Close-up photographs of the dolomite stone used for the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument

 
Close-up photographs of the dolomite stone used for the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument, no. of Cartago, Inyo Co., CA Close-up photographs of the dolomite stone used for the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns Monument, no. of Cartago, Inyo Co., CA

 

 
Photographs of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln Ruins Photographs of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln Ruins Photographs of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln Ruins

 

Photographs of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln Ruins

 
Photographs of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln Ruins Photographs of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln Ruins Photographs of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kiln Ruins

 

 

 

(Transcription of the two plaques on the monument)

“Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns”

“In June 1873 Colonel Sherman Stevens built a sawmill and flume on Cottonwood Creek high in the Sierras directly west of this spot.  The flume connected with the Los Angeles Bullion.  The lumber from the flume was used for timbering in the mine and buildings and the wood was turned into charcoal in these kilns, then hauled to Steven’s wharf east of here on Owens Lake.  There it was put on the steamer the ‘Bessie Brady,’ or the ‘Mollie Stevens,’ hauled directly across the lake, and from there wagons took it up the ‘Yellow Grade’ to Cerro Gordo mine, high in the Inyo Mountains above Keeler.  M. W. Belshaw’s furnaces had used all available wood around the Cerro Gordo and this charcoal was necessary to continued production. 

“The bullion which was then taken out by the reverse of this route was hauled to Los Angeles on Remi Nadbau’s  14, 16, 18 animal freight wagons and played a major part in the building of that little pueblo into the city of today.”

(Transcription of the small plaque on the monument)

“Plaque originally dedicated in 1955 by the California Eastern Sierra Museum Association.  Plaque stolen in 1970.  Recovered by Inyo County Sheriff’s Department.  Rededicated May 15, 1970. 

“Slim Princess Chapter No. 395, E Clampus Vitus”

Continued on Page 1 2

[Top of Page]