The first time Cat and I were out here at the mill site we ran into an old guy that said he'd been visiting this site since the early 70's. He said he knew some of the history of the place and that he liked to spend most of his nights during the summer here. But, he NEVER spent the night on Saturdays. Both mine and Cat's interests were piqued.
The Chemung mine was discovered and named by Stephen Kavanaugh around 1900. Chemung was named after his hometown in Illinois and the mine produced more than a million dollars worth of ore in its lifetime. Also, Kavanaugh ridge, southwest of Chemung in the Sierras, where the ghost town Dunderberg is located, was named after Stephen Kavanaugh where he drove a gold vein tunnel nearby.
It's our guess that the buildings still standing here are from the 30's or 40's. There are several older foundations, possibly dating back to the turn on the century, that can be found in the aspen trees on the south side of the meadow.
Sadly time, vandals and the elements have not been kind to the Chemung mine. The headframe and two cabins have collapsed as well as the rear of the "barn looking" section of the mill in just the last 10 years. We've also seen many artifacts go missing and the entire site is literally covered with bullet holes. It breaks our hearts to see such a cool historical site shown such ill respect.
OTHER CHEMUNG WEBPAGES:
