Originally called Amargosa, the name of this tiny town about two hours northwest of Las Vegas was changed to Death Valley Junction 1907. It’s at this junction that the Tonopah-Tidewater railroad connected with the Las Vegas-Tonopah railroad.
The town is centered on a large U-shaped building built in 1924 to house miners and employees of the Pacific Coast Borax Company. With a dining room at one end of the "U" and a community room, with stage, at the other, the middle of the "U" contained sleeping quarters inside, with a 420-foot long veranda out front.
Mining operations ceased in 1928 and railroad service ended in 1940. With that, the population dropped from a high of 300 to a current count of less than 20. However, along the way something else interesting happened when, in 1967, Marta Becket and her then-husband suffered a flat tire while camping in Death Valley. Death Valley Junction afforded the nearest service station and while her husband fixed the flat, Marta looked around, discovered an abandoned theater in the Armagosa Hotel, and had an epiphany – she could be happy here!
The daughter of a New York Post reporter, Martha Beckett, as she was born, grew up in Greenwich Village NYC. A child performer, she learned ballet and won a scholarship that got her accepted into a small New York modern-dance company. A stint in the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall was followed by some gigs on Broadway, where she appeared as a chorus girl in Show Boat, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Wonderful Town.
In 1962 she married and by then had a one-woman touring show, which performed in small theaters and school auditoriums across the nation. Accounts differ as to whether they were on vacation or en route to one of Marta’s performing engagements when the couple suffered that life-changing flat, but when she peeped through a hole in the wall and spied the theater, Marta felt compelled to restore it.
Marta and her husband duly moved to Death Valley Junction, rented the community room in what she rechristened the "Armagosa Opera House," and a mammoth makeover commenced, painting and embellishing the place to resemble an authentic European-style opera house. By 1968, Marta began performing her one-woman music and dance shows, which featured her own hand-painted sets, hand-sewn costumes, and entirely original material, often to a crowd of a dozen-or-so of the hippies who’d gravitated to Death Valley Junction to smoke pot, jam, and stay at the hotel or camp across the street.
Still, with a full house (or, in fact, any audience at all) being far from a given on any night at this obscure venue, Marta was inspired to create her own by painting a full-on trompe l'oeil audience of interesting Renaissance-era characters. It took several years to complete and, evidently, at some point "Mr Becket" finally had enough and left.
Marta, however, remained and in due course was "discovered" by journalists from National Geographic, whose articles then inspired a visitation by Life magazine, which in turn brought international fame to the tiny town.
In 1979 Ms Becket, with some help from a non-profit called "Trust for Public Land," purchased the entire town for $151,000. She painted hotel rooms and halls with her signature trompe l'oeil creations and continued to perform in her theater for 44 years, three nights a week at 8:15 p.m., sharp, until finally retiring in 2012 at the age of 88. As the years went by and she could no longer dance, she would perform seated, as she did to a packed house on a Sunday afternoon in March, 2012 for her swansong show, for which she sported a velvet gown, checkered hat, and false mustache. We found a little clip on YouTube.
Although she no longer performs, Marta still lives on the property and continues to paint desert landscapes and other scenes. Tragically, in August of this year a flash flood ripped through the 91-year-old Opera House and did some damage, particularly to the original wood floors. It’s been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981 so it’s hoped that some outside funding may become available for the necessary repairs.
The Amargosa Opera House & Hotel is still operational in its hotel capacity and charges $65-$85/night. The Amargosa Cafe is also open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. Opera house performances (sans Marta) are still put on from the end of October through May (refer to their Facebook page to get exact times). Both websites contain photo galleries, too.
But is it haunted?
There are stories and you can view some footage on YouTube that claims to have captured "moving orbs," while the surveillance team reported an "odd scent" (not that unusual in such an old building, one would think). This writer stayed there about 20 years ago and can report that there were no creepy vibes, no weird occurrences. That said, legendsofamerica.com also states that haunted have been reported there, including a ghost cat that would interrupt performances in the opera house. And if it isn't haunted now, it may yet be: Marta Becket states that her spirit might remain there after leaving earth-life, if she doesn't receive a better offer!
