Willard
(Loring)
In 1915, G.H. Downing discovered gold near Coal Canyon, starting a small boom. A tent camp, named for boxing champion Jess Willard, sprang into being and soon lessees built a 30-ton Gibson mill at Kodak siding (five miles distant on the Southern Pacific). About 1919, Willard was renamed for W.J. Loring, a prominent investor. Between 1923 and 1925 alone, over $126,000 was recovered, but the district was never a large producer and only intermittent work continued through the remainder of the twentieth century.
