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Fr. Francisco Garcest a spaniard toured the Goffs area in 1776 when he became the first non native american to cross the Mojva Desert. Due to his explorations many others followed bravely to the area created towns....mining for gold......living off the land. The area was started from explorers which eventually turned into soldiers guarding US Mail to miners....railroaders building the tracks through Goffs....to ranchers and eventually the states of CA Hwy builders. In 1883 the construction of the Southern Pacific Railway begain which connected Barstow and Needles together. The railroad could bring water supplies for travelers with steam engines. It also became the famous east to west route also known today as Route 66. I remember grabbing my flashlight getting out of the car and hiking down route 66 didnt put much thought into it till I remembered that Goffs was built around a location that evolved from horses all the way to motor vehicles. This town stemmed from Route 66 which seen for over a century travelers of all kinds and many means to travel. They called the town of Goffs the town at the top of the hill perhaps because it did sit at a much higher elevation west of Needles. In 1893 a short line called the Nevada Southern Railway then the California Eastern Railway then eventually the Searchlight Branch of the Santa Fe was constructed just a little north from Goffs. What became a siding location and place do maintenance on engines from Needles soon became a location that was an entry point into the Eastern Mojave. In Searchlight many mines were discovered and laid claim to where a short line railroad led north out of Goffs thus turning the town site of a weigh station for trains on route to Searchlight. That shortline extended into the town of Searchlight NV which those very same rails were the only place the Sanete Fe ever touched in the silver state. Most of the families residing in Goffs worked for the Santa Fe railroad and had children. The railroad felt it was important to have a school and in the autumn of 1911 classes were held in a rented building. In 1914 the present day school photo you see on this page was donated by a homesteader. It is actually a mission style contrusted wood frame and stucco over steel mesh structure. The school had 800 square feet which was used for dancing, church services and other events. The other 1200 square feet within the school were used for the town library which today is now housed in a yellow historical wood home. In the earlthy 1900s the wagon road that ran along the railroad tracks which are north of Goffs was called the National Old Trails Road. It became a main road eventually for autos to California from the east. In 1926 highways were built which reached all the states within our country and this road was called Route 66. Of course being that the town sat on the hill outside of bustling Needles those travelers traveling this major highway wanting into the East Mojave always stopped in Goffs to fill up or purchase supplies. Another famous highway known as the Arrowhead Hwy connected Salt Lake City and Los Angeles Via Las Vegas. Years ago that route was a dirt road which ran north into Seach Light. Folks would get onto Route 66 at the junction to head into Goffs from this junction. Sadly the railroad that ran into Searchlight discontinued its operations in 1923 due to the fact that most mines were closed. This caused the Santa Fe to be less dependent on Goffs because more modern steam engines could travel farther without needing to fill up water as often. So the trains started to skip Goffs and by the 1930s steam was rarely used as Diesel came to be. But the towns decline really began in 1931 when route 66 was realigned missing Goffs for six miles. This short cut was developed the Piute Mountains to the south. You have to understand that cars could climb steeper grades then the railroads. This is why in 1883 the train companies tried to have the railroad built to go around these mountains. When the new road was opened folks visiting the Eastern Mojave entirely passed Goffs not even knowing it was on the maps. The school closed in 1937 because the Needles took over the school district and the locals wanted one built on Hwy 66. Not sure if I would want my kids going to school on a busy highway but back then life was not about convenience it was about survival. The new school built in Essex caused the Goffs school to go up for sale where for a decade the site became a ghost town. During WWII sometimes as much as 10,000 if not more soldiers were stationed here. The town by then had no gas station, cafe or a single business left. The schoolhouse became the cafe for the soldiers and mess hall. After the war the town became abandoned again. No matter the generation once a site became abandoned people took what they wanted. The vegetation was stripped causing exposed sands to create dunes. The soldiers used most of the abandoned structures for firewood thus not much remained left of the town. You have to understant that Goffs was a very small town so having all these soldiers meant chaos for the towns structures and surrounding history. Later after the war a small cafe, general store and service stationed opened up. Even a half century later they still are in business. The Santa Fe passed through the town quite often but declined its services to the area as new railroads were constructed and cut through larger bustling cities. Not much remained of Goffs related to railroading after the war but a pump house, tool shed and huge water tank. There were no more Santa Fe employees living in or remotely close to the town. Strangely since 1902 the Santa Fe railroad provided water for the town and even till this day they still do since Goffs sits in a very harsh area of the Mojave. The schoolhouse passed hands again and was a residence or living quarters up till 1954 perhaps for some military who resided in the area after the war. The schoolhouse was then sold to a private own but the nobody lived in it and it became vandalized. By 1982 a wall was gone within the school house and the ceiling over the large class room was caved in. The wonderful thing about being an explorer and paranormal investigator is that we preserve such places in hopes to see them cherished by our viewers so that such vandalism never takes place again. Since the building was falling apart a couple ranchers named Jim and Bertha Wold need a residence to live in so they decided to renovate the school house. It took them several years to fix the school house prior to it becoming their home. Sadly by 1989 the property and school house were sold to Dennis and Jo Ann Casebier who sought out to restore the structure as a school house and turn Goffs into a Mojave Desert refuge of knowledge. Their are thousands of newspaper clippings, photographs, oral histories, maps and books. All of them have so much historical information related to the ghost towns of the Mojave...mines....railroads....tragedies and more. The schoolhouse project did get completed by 1998 to put the schoolhouse back to its original look. At that time old students who attended were brought in who shared stories of living during this time period. The restoration project was done by many volunteers with the help of the Mojave Desert Heritage And Cultural Association. Today Goffs is a local tourist trap for those local ghost town enthusiast. Although not much remains the school house, a few homesteads, tractors, windmill, box car, near by train tracks, general store and library all exist amongst the local ranches which grace the towns original site. The trains that pass through hair loud horns blowing....clinks....clanks....sort of give this place a rather eerie desolate feeling. © By Lord Rick
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