Editing Darwin, California (section)

==History==
The town is named after [[Darwin French]] (1822–1902), a local rancher, miner, and explorer.

According to Erwin Gudde, French of Fort Tejon was with a party of prospectors in the area during the fall of 1850.  French also led a party into [[Death Valley]] in 1860 to search for the mythical Gunsight Lode via the local wash, lending his first name to the wash, canyon, and future town.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gudde|first1=Erwin G.|title=California place names : the origin and etymology of current geographical names|date=1998|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=0520213165|page=[https://archive.org/details/californiaplacen00gudd/page/102 102]|edition=4th ed., rev. and enl.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/californiaplacen00gudd/page/102}}</ref>

Silver and lead discovery at the place led to the founding of a settlement in 1874.<ref name=CGN /><ref>{{cite book |first=Robert P. |last=Palazzo |title=Darwin, California |year=1996}}</ref> A post office opened in 1875, closed for a time in 1902, and remains open.<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert P. |last=Palazzo |title=Inyo County Post Offices and Postmasters 1866-1966 |year=2005}}</ref> The town prospered when Eichbaum Toll Road opened in 1926, opening Death Valley from the west.  When Death Valley became a National Monument in 1933, it was decided to buy the toll road to allow free access to the new park.  In 1937, a new cutoff bypassed Darwin, isolating the town.<ref>{{cite news |first=Fitzhugh L. |last=Minnigerodee |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/10/24/archives/road-joins-extremes-highway-to-death-valley-links-high-and-low.html |title=Road Joins 'Extremes' |date=October 24, 1937 |page=8}}</ref>

The town was the subject of a 2011 documentary film [[Darwin (2011 film)|''Darwin'']]. In April 2012, [[BBC News]] featured a video of local residents describing their wishes to replace [[dial-up Internet access]] with [[broadband]].<ref>{{Cite news
| title = Darwin, the town trapped by dial-up internet
| work = BBC News
| access-date = 2012-04-03
| date = 2012-04-02
| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17569954
}}</ref>