Gold Mountain (later renamed Stateline) came about when gold was discovered here in 1864. This discovery was abandoned and then rediscovered in 1866. The site did not really take off until the Stateline Mining Company built a ten stamp mill here in 1881. By summer, the Gold Mountain townsite had five saloons, two stores, chop house, livery stable, bakery, butcher, post office, a hurdy-gurdy house, and several wooden, stone, canvas, and dug-out dwellings. The Stateline Mining Co. also constructed a pipeline from Tule Canyon, to keep from purchasing water from Oriental.

The post office was removed in 1891, and mining activity slowed until a small revival in 1905.