Purcell Murals

The town of Chloride is just off US 93, in between Kingman and the Hoover Dam. It was founded in the 1860s as a silver mining town. At one point it had a population in the thousands and was the county (Mojave) seat. As the mines shut down, the population dropped but it never entirely died out with the result that today Chloride has about 400 residents and can boast of being both the longest continually inhabited mining town in Arizona and also having the longest continually operating post office in the state.

After its life as a mining town, Chloride attracted artists of all sorts, one of whom created a vast mural project on boulders situated about a mile or so behind the town, in the foothills of the Cerbat Mountains. Roy Purcell created a 2000 square foot set of vibrantly colored murals which he called "The Journey." He has said that the murals represent stages of his life and conflicts within his subconscious. They are beautiful, bold, surrealistic and definitely worth a look.

You can check out the links below to find out more about Chloride and the Purcell murals. I don't know that I'd plan a trip just to see Chloride, as cool as it is. It's kind of out there and I think this is best planned not as a trip on its own but as a side trip. When I went, I was on a 3 day trip with a friend. We went to Oatman, checked out Chloride and visited Keepers of the Wild animal sanctuary in Valentine. Or this would be a nice excursion if you're in Vegas or driving to Vegas along US 93.