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Photographer unknown, courtesy of the Sidney Norman Weight Collection, number 8
In mid-1906, Furnace was the first of the four towns established in the Greenwater Mining District. It was a company town for miners associated with the nearby Patsy Clark Mine, named for its primary investor. The area cleared for the townsite was very large because Clark believed his mine was going to turn into one of the largest copper mines in the world. The townsite also had the longest longevity, because Clark’s mine was one of the few to actually be worked significantly and was one the last to stop operations. Along main street, most of the buildings were tent frames over a wooden base. The pads were cut into soil petrocalcic horizons (caliche), which is one of the most severe form of disturbances that can occur in a desert environment. (photographer unknown, courtesy of the Sidney Norman Weight Collection, number 8)