Saturday, July 28, 2007

Chunk's road trip, part 2


1. LET'S FACE IT, nothing's cooler than a town in the middle of f*ckin' nowhere. So, when I came upon tiny and dilapidated Johannesburg (CA), an old mining town along the 395, I decided to have a look around.

The town was the terminus of a mining railroad starting in the 1890s, but the tracks were torn out in the 30s. It was a "civilized" town for several decades. Today, fewer than 200 people live in "Jo-burg."

2. On the west (?) end of town, I came across an old cemetery. Bingo! I parked and commenced reading the grave markers.

3. This little girl lived for about two weeks in 1859.

4. An old iron marker.

5. 12-year-old Ada died in 1898.

6. 34-year-old Charlie Brown also died in 1898.

7. Born in Kentucky, in 1854.

8. Evidently, Frank was the "Godfather of American Rockhounds."

9. Bill had a sense of humor, I guess.

10. This guy was born when I was, but died at age 35. Evidently, he loved his bike. Note the beer can.

11. It was hot. I had to go. I looked at the sky. It was cool and beautiful.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...