Once a booming silver town on the edge of Owens Lake, Swansea was named after the many experienced Welsh miners who traveled across the Atlantic from the town of Swansea in South Wales, to find their fortunes. Swansea, California became a hub for smelting the ore and transporting the resulting ingots to Los Angeles more than 200 miles away. The smelter was in operation from 1869 to 1874 and processed up to 150 silver bars daily, weighing approximately 83 lbs each.

After the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake damaged the smelters, the Swansea pier became inaccessible by the steamships on Owens Lake. As a result, most of the smelting and transportation business moved to the town of Keeler, approximately one mile to the south.

In the summer of 1874, the fate of Swansea was sealed when a thunderstorm-induced debris flow inundated the almost deserted town. During this time, The Owens Lake Silver Lead Company was involved in expensive litigation with another company at the time and could not afford to rebuild it.

Only one building and a few portions of the smelter foundation remains alongside Route 136.