Abandoned Towns
Aerial view of the Octave area: pale mine tailings and dirt roads at the foot of Weaver Mountain

Gold mining town

Octave

The company town of the Octave Mine, which took over Weaver's post office in 1900. The wartime order that closed gold mines in 1942 ended its run, the post office closed that December, and the town was torn down in the 1950s.

34°08′35″N 112°42′32″W · ≈3,310 ft

Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).

Private · gated (2013)

In December 2013 a visitor found the mine property private, gated and closed to the public, the newest report we found. A 1998 site record puts the cemetery on Bureau of Land Management land, and the Sharlot Hall Museum says the Octave and Weaver cemeteries can be visited. Treat gates and posted claims as closed, and check locally before you go.

Overview

A company town under Weaver Mountain

Octave grew up around a gold mine on the west foot of Weaver Mountain, about two miles south of Rich Hill and less than a mile south of Weaver, the first camp of the 1863 strike. The Octave vein was known by the 1860s, but serious work began in the 1890s, when, according to HistoryNet, a group of eight men founded the mine. The USGS records its first production in 1895.

While Weaver's placers faded, the Octave went underground. HistoryNet calls it the most successful hard-rock mine in the district, and the USGS lists three shafts of 1,400, 1,800 and 2,100 feet. Weaver's people moved to it after a killing there in 1898, and in 1900 the Weaver post office moved too and became Octave. In 1908 a power line from a new plant near Wickenburg electrified the mill and mines. An atlas of the 1920s put the town at about 100 people.

The end came with the war. A federal order in October 1942 closed the country's nonessential gold mines, and Octave's post office closed on the last day of that year. The buildings came down in the 1950s. Later owners took the mine up again, and its last recorded production was in 1980. Today the mine property is private and gated. The descriptions we found mention tailings, a few old structures and a fenced cemetery.

Timeline

From Weaver's successor to a gated mine

USGS Congress sheet, 1903: Octave on the road south of Weaver, with Stanton and Rich Hill to the north
USGS Congress sheet, 1903: Octave on the road south of Weaver, with Stanton and Rich Hill to the north · Map: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
  1. Gold is found on Rich Hill, two miles to the north, and Weaver Mining District No. 2 is organized.
  2. The USGS mineral record dates the discovery of the Octave vein to the 1860s; one entry says 1865.
  3. Eight men found the Octave Mine, according to HistoryNet.
  4. First recorded production from the mine.
  5. After a killing at Weaver, its residents start moving to Octave.
  6. The Weaver post office moves to Octave and takes its name.
  7. The Central Arizona Electric Company runs an 11-mile power line from a new plant near Wickenburg. The Octave mill and mines switch to electricity.
  8. Miners work the Joker shaft. A third shaft follows in the 1930s and 1940s.
  9. An atlas puts Octave's population at about 100.
  10. War Production Board order L-208 closes the nation's nonessential gold mines.
  11. The post office closes.
  12. The mine buildings and the town are torn down. An operator, Allen Co., is listed in 1951.
  13. New owners take over in 1975 and 1980, with C. O. Carlson managing the mine in the 1970s. The last recorded production is in 1980.
  14. An Arizona Site Steward file records the townsite and a fenced cemetery of about 50 graves on Bureau of Land Management land.
  15. A visitor finds the mine property private, gated and closed to the public.

Legend and record

Eight partners and three production figures

The name. An octave has eight notes, and the name is usually tied to the eight men who founded the mine. HistoryNet confirms the eight founders. We haven't found a document from the time that explains the name, so treat the link as tradition.

How much gold. The sources don't agree. A Sharlot Hall Museum finding aid for the papers of C. O. Carlson, who managed the mine in the 1970s, says four million dollars of gold ore came out between 1897 and 1942. The USGS mineral record works from $1.8 million in gold at the old price of $20.67 an ounce. HistoryNet gives about 80,000 ounces each of gold and silver. The figures measure different things over different years, so we show all three.

When it died. The town lost its reason to exist in 1942, when War Production Board order L-208 shut down nonessential gold mines to save men and equipment for the war. The order was lifted on June 30, 1945, but Octave's post office was already gone, and HistoryNet says the mine and town were demolished in the 1950s. Mining didn't stop for good. The USGS lists operators in 1951, 1975 and 1980, and the 1980 entry mentions possible leaching of old ore.

Site map

Where the town stood

The 1903 USGS sheet in the historic maps below shows Octave as a cluster of buildings on the road south of Weaver, with Stanton and Rich Hill to the north. The 1969 sheet marks the Octave Mine on the slope of Weaver Mountain, two fans of tailings below it along Weaver Creek Road, and a cemetery to the southwest. The 1892 sheet shows no camp here yet.

The record of what survives is thin. A 1998 Arizona Site Steward file lists historic artifacts and about 50 graves inside a fenced cemetery. The Sharlot Hall Museum describes the Octave cemetery as badly decayed, with a few markers and no names. A visitor in 2013 saw old structures, a big pit and smaller openings in the hills, from a bluff across from the main gate. An undated listing names one original standing building with foundations, tailings and mining equipment. We haven't been able to confirm which structures still stand.

A note on the map point. The USGS place-name record, and Wikipedia after it, puts Octave about a mile east of here, on the far side of Weaver Mountain. Every map and record of the camp itself points to the mine site on Weaver Creek Road, so that is where we place it.

  • Mine tailings
  • Shafts and pits (on private land)
  • Foundations
  • Fenced cemetery, about 50 graves
  • Mining equipment
Current USGS topo map of the Octave area with Weaver Creek Road and Weaver Creek
USGS The National Map, topo. Weaver Creek Road crosses the upper left. Today's topo no longer names the mine or the town here.
Aerial view of the Octave mine site: pale tailings and a web of dirt roads at the foot of a ridge
Aerial imagery, same area. The pale ground in the middle is the mine's tailings, with the workings on the slope to the right.

Historic maps

Octave on USGS maps, 1892–1981

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Octave, 1892
Prescott sheet, 1892, 1:250,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Wickenburg is the closest town with services. The drive is the same as for Weaver until the last stretch: US 93 and AZ 89 north, then dirt roads past Stanton. The route ends on Weaver Creek Road about a quarter mile from the old mine. It was computed from OpenStreetMap, and we haven't driven it.

USGS topographic map between Wickenburg and Octave with both routes drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From downtown Wickenburg26.4 miabout 1 h 01 min
  1. From downtown Wickenburg, take Wickenburg Way (US 60) to the US 93 bypass and follow US 93 north through its roundabouts.6.1 mi
  2. Bear right onto AZ 89 and follow it north toward Congress.11.8 mi
  3. North of Congress, turn right onto Stanton Road, a dirt road, and follow it east to Stanton.6.5 mi
  4. At Stanton, turn right onto Octave Road.1.7 mi
  5. Turn left onto Weaver Creek Road. The mine property lies just east; stay off it unless you have permission.0.2 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • Stanton and Octave roads are dirt. A 2013 visitor found the road good to Stanton and a little rougher toward the Octave Mine. An undated listing rates it 2WD; the Sharlot Hall Museum recommends four-wheel drive for the cemeteries. Go in dry weather.
  • Stanton is a private, members-only camp of the Lost Dutchman's Mining Association. Stay on the road through it.
  • The mine property is private and gated, and the Rich Hill area is covered with mining claims. Don't enter, dig or metal-detect without permission.
  • Old shafts and pits surround the mine. Stay well back from openings and off the tailings.
  • Summers are hot here. Go between fall and spring, and carry water.

Photos

Have photos of Octave?

We haven’t added more photographs of Octave yet. If you’ve visited, share your photos and a field report below.

The Sharlot Hall Museum holds 1920s photographs of the mine and tailings.

Visitor reports

Been to Octave?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Octave

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Arizona index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, "Octave": fact sheet fields (roads, legal description, climate, best time, remains, post office dates).
  2. Wikipedia, "Octave, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: the 1920 population, the cemetery, the GNIS point.
  3. USGS Mineral Resources Data System, "Octave Mine" (MRDS 10027632): mine location, discovery, first and last production, shafts, operators, the $1.8 million figure.
  4. Jim Pettengill, "Ghost Town: Rich Hill, Arizona," HistoryNet (from Wild West, February 2014): the eight founders, production in ounces, demolition in the 1950s.
  5. Sharlot Hall Museum Archives, Carlson/Octave Mine Collection finding aid: the $4 million figure for 1897–1942, C. O. Carlson.
  6. Sharlot Hall Museum photo archive, "Octave Mine" (1920s): the 1908 electrification, quoting the Arizona Journal-Miner.
  7. Sharlot Hall Museum photo archive, "Weaver Cemetery": the Octave cemetery's condition, visitor access and 4WD advice.
  8. Connie L. Stone, "Octave Townsite and Cemetery," Arizona Site Steward file (1998), via tDAR: artifacts, about 50 graves, BLM land.
  9. Scott Surgent, "Octave & Stanton Ghost Towns" (December 2013 visit): private, gated property and road conditions.
  10. Arizona Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project, "Weaver" (2008): the 1898 move from Weaver and the post office transfer.
  11. United States v. Central Eureka Mining Co., 357 U.S. 155 (1958): War Production Board order L-208, its purpose and its 1945 revocation.
  12. Sigler Western Museum, "Admission & Accessibility": hours and admission, as of October 2026.
  13. Coordinates: placed at the Octave Mine site from the USGS 1903 Congress and 1969 Yarnell sheets and the MRDS record. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

Record6 of 11
  • Townsite location
  • Post office dates
  • 1920 population
  • Production estimates
  • Historic maps, 1892–1981
  • Cemetery recorded (1998)
  • Photos of the townsite
  • Current land owner
  • Access status
  • Road condition past Stanton
  • Field report since 2013
Missing items are what we'll ask readers and local sources to fill.