It hosted seven saloons, three hotels, a Wells Fargo station, post office (that opened in 1897),[2] school, a jail and morgue, but no churches.

Seldom Seen Slim (Charles Ferge) was the sole resident of Ballarat from approximately 1918 until his 1968 death at the nearby Trona Hospital, where he died of cancer.

It is theorized that the green pickup truck left in Ballarat belonged to him, according to a framed picture and hand-written notes inside the trading post.

On Easter weekend, 1971, about two thousand people attended a "hippie" celebration at Ballarat;[4] about two hundred of the attendees contracted hepatitis from contaminated drinking water.

[6] The five-minute character piece featured a montage of various Ballarat locations with a voiceover narrated by Rocky describing his life in the town, while interjecting his various musings on human nature.

[7][8] Ballarat is used as a meeting point for four wheeling expeditions into the Panamint Range and Death Valley, and in winter up to 300 people camp in the grounds of the town.