It was due to the lack of botanical knowledge that this town received the name Palmetto. Back in 1866, prospectors set up a mining camp. Seeing the Joshua trees on the nearby hillsides, the miners chose the name Palmetto...Mistaking the Joshua trees for  palm trees.

Unlike Lida which was a double boom and bust town, Palmetto was a triple boom and bust town! In its heyday of 1906,  the Main Street, over a 1/2 mile long, supplied local miners with all their needs. By the fall of 1906, the town started to die. After this, some leasing took place as hopeful newcomers tried their luck, but the mines were played out.