The story
Stanton sits below Rich Hill, where 1863 prospectors famously picked potato-sized gold nuggets off the bedrock — one of the richest placer finds in Arizona history. The town took the name of Charles Stanton, a station keeper whose alleged murders-by-proxy of business rivals ended when he was shot dead in his own store in 1886.
The placers faded by 1905, but the site never quite died: the Lost Dutchman's Mining Association owns the townsite today, running it as a members' RV camp where the 1870s hotel, opera house, and stage station still stand — and members still pan color out of Antelope Creek.
What remains today
The hotel, opera house, and stage stop, maintained by the prospecting club; Rich Hill looms behind.
Questions from the field
- Can the public visit Stanton?
- Usually yes — the prospecting association that owns it welcomes respectful day visitors who check in, though policies vary with events. The buildings are original, not reconstructions.
From the field
The most valuable part of this record is the part only visitors can write.
Stamp your passport
Check in at Stanton — GPS-verified visits earn an inked stamp.
File a field report
Road conditions, what's still standing, what's gone — your report joins the record.
Add photographs
Credited, dated, and preserved as part of Stanton's permanent record.
No field reports yet — sign in to file the first.
Sources consulted
- — USGS GNIS feature 24626
- — Yavapai County records — Rich Hill/Weaver district
- — Lost Dutchman's Mining Association site history