San Bernardino County history: Goldstone, CA – Welcome to San Bernardino County

An exhibit featuring informational displays about space exploration at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex. — *The Goldstone Visitor Center in Barstow. Credit: NASA.*

In 1880, gold was discovered about 30 miles outside of Barstow in San Bernardino County. A small town was developed around the site, which was named Goldstone, an area that would eventually help NASA communicate with spacecraft across the solar system. Like many other mining towns during that time, Goldstone experienced several booms and busts with multiple mineral claims filed through the early 1900s and 1930s.

At one point, some claims ran from $1,400 to $3,000 worth of gold per month. In today’s money, that would be roughly $30,000. However, the high cost of extracting and exporting the ore eventually made mining unprofitable and soon Goldstone became a ghost town.

The site found a new purpose when NASA got involved. Fifty years of space exploration have brought many milestones in both robotic and manned spacecraft. In the 1950s, NASA created the Deep Space Network, which was designed to provide constant communication with spacecraft as the Earth rotates. The plan called for three complexes to be placed 120 degrees apart around the world.

The remote location of Goldstone was deemed optimal because it was free from interference from radio and television waves and was also on a controllable site as part of the Fort Irwin Army Base complex. In 1958, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech built the first antenna at Goldstone.

Today, the facility is known as the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex for NASA, which has played a vital role in relaying critical data and images. Together with the other facilities near Madrid, Spain and Canberra, Australia, it forms a network that provides 360-degree spacecraft tracking coverage.

Some of the giant antennas at Goldstone were used to receive the first images of Mars from the Mariner IV spacecraft and the Apollo missions to the Moon. The site is also utilized for radio astronomy and radar observations of the solar system and the universe.

The Goldstone Complex also includes the Pioneer Deep Space Station, which is listed as a National Historic Landmark. The Goldstone Visitor Center is located at the historic Harvey House at 681 North First Ave. in Barstow.

The information in this historical feature was originally part of a video series produced by the Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk’s office.

Additional County Update News – October 16, 2025