Tag: Ghost town

A ghost town, once a thriving settlement bustling with activity, now stands eerily silent and abandoned. Its streets, once filled with the sounds of daily life, are now overgrown with weeds and lined with crumbling buildings. Windows are shattered, doors hang askew on rusty hinges, and the once-vibrant facades are faded and weather-beaten. The air is thick with a haunting stillness, broken only by the occasional whisper of wind through the desolate alleys. Remnants of its former inhabitants’ lives are scattered throughout—rusted vehicles, tattered curtains, and forgotten toys, all hinting at a sudden, unplanned departure. Nature slowly reclaims the area, with ivy crawling up walls and trees sprouting from cracked pavements, adding an eerie, yet strangely beautiful, touch to the decaying landscape.

Bullfrog Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

Posted on by
One of the few remaining structures in Bullfrog, Nevada - Photo by James L Rathbun
One of the few remaining structures in Bullfrog, Nevada – Photo by James L Rathbun

Located at the northern end of Amargosa Desert, Bullfrog is a ghost town in Nye County, Nevada. The Bullfrog mine was discovered on  August 9, 1904 by Frank “Shorty” Harris and Eddie Cross. This discovery lead to many new townsites being platted out in the following seven months. It is said that Ed sold his interest in the claim for $125,000. Shorty Harris claimed to have discovered that he sold him claim during a 6 day celebration. Claims where made for miles surrounding the original mines.

Main Street in Bullfrog Nevada - 1905
Main Street in Bullfrog Nevada – 1905
Frank "Shorty" Harris
Frank “Shorty” Harris

The name Bullfrog was chosen either because Eddie Cross was fond of singing ‘O, the bulldog on the bank and the bullfrog in the pool…’ or due to the ore rich gold ore sample was green and frog-shaped.

Regardless, Bullfrog was the towns name and quickly grew to a population of 1,000. The town supported post offices, newspapers, telephones, hotels, saloons and all of the common businesses which appeared in these dusty destinations in the desert. Advertisements from Los Angeles promoted the town as a new metropolis in Nevada and “The Greatest Gold Camp in the World”.

The formation of the town of Rhyolite led to a brief and wild race for commercial viability and supremacy. By 1906, Rhyolite succeeded and businesses in Bullfrog either closed or moved up to Rhyolite on wagons. Despite this blow, Bullfrog continued on for another three years before its inevitable collapse in 1909.

Bullfrog (eights months old) has post office, express, telegraph and telephone facilities, a $20,000 hotel, a $50,000 water system, a thoroughly equipped pavilion, one of the best equipped banks in the state, an electric light plant in process of construction, a newspaper, population of 1,000

1905 Advertisement – The Los Angeles-Bullfrog Realty & Investment Co.

Today, the town site has little to show of its past. Again, it is superseded to its neighbor up the valley. A small cemetery still exists to mark the lives of those who lived and died there.

Town Summary

NameBullfrog Nevada
LocationNye County, Nevada
Latitude, Longitude36.890278, -116.833611
Elevation3,580 Feet
Population1,000
Post Office1905 – 1909
NewspaperBullfrog Miner Mar 31, 1905 – Sept 25, 1909

Bullfrog Nevada Trail Map

Bullfrog Personalities

Frank "Shorty" Harris

Frank “Shorty” Harris

Frank Harris was a prospector, desert rat and perhaps the best known character in western mining history. He looked the part, often travelling the desert…

References

Pioneer Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

Posted on by

Beginning as a mining camp near the Mayflower, Pioneer Nevada is an old mining camp and ghost town in Nye County, Nevada. The Pioneer gold mine was first discovered in 1907 as part of the Bull Frog Mining District. The camp was formed between two of the mines in the area, the Pioneer and the Mayflower. A daily stagecoach began between Pioneer and the mining town of Springdale, about 2 miles to the northeast along the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad

The Camp of Pioneer in July 1910 is partially rebuilt after the fire in 1909
The Camp of Pioneer in July 1910 is partially rebuilt after the fire in 1909

Initially, like many other boom towns, early optimism of rich surface deposits fueled speculation and rapid growth for the down. The fledgling town was laid out and businesses from Rhyolite and nearby Beatty opened up in the small town of Pioneer. By 1909 some 1000 people called the town home, for now. The town was referenced by the Las Vegas Age, which called Pioneer the liveliest place in the state.

The town was organized into two sections known as the upper and lower towns. The serve the population business included hotels, a theater, boarding houses, shoe stores, restaurants, a a cigar store and saloons. The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad promoted passenger service between Rhyolite and Pioneer. Passengers could step off a train in Rhyloite and quickly into a waiting automobile to drive them to Pioneer. The Las Vegas and Tonopah and the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroads were projecting branch lines up the the town.

Like many boomtowns, the wood construction of the buildings where dried in the desert environment. The town suffered a debilitating fire in May 1909, which destroyed the majority of the business and buildings. The dry buildings were engulfed by flames fueled by a prevailing wind.

The Ten-Stamp Mill in Pioneer Nevada
The Ten-Stamp Mill in Pioneer Nevada

After the fire, the town was rebuilt however it was never quite the same as before. In 1913 a ten stamp mill was constructed and operated from about three years before being shutdown. In 1914 a partial collapse of the Pioneer mine further hampered gold production. The mines continued to operated until 1931.

Town Summary

Town SummaryPioneer Nevada
LocationNye County, Nevada
Latitude, Longitude37.005278, -116.783889
Elevation4220ft
Population2500
Post OfficeMarch 1909 –

Pioneer Nevada Trail Map

References

Jessup Nevada – Churchill County Ghost Town

Posted on by

Jessup Nevada is a ghost town and gold mining camp located in Churchill County, Nevada. The site was first discovered in February 1908 by Frank Jessup & L. H. Murray.  The town is located about 4 miles northwest of the I-80 and even has an offramp used to access the town site. The mineralization was believed to be an extension of the mineralization from Seven Troughs in Pershing County.

Early days in Jessup, 1908 - Unknown photographer - Stanley W. Paher, Nevada Ghost Towns & Mining Camps, Howell North, (1970), p 112, Mrs. R.R. Purdy collection
Early days in Jessup, 1908 – Unknown photographer – Stanley W. Paher, Nevada Ghost Towns & Mining Camps, Howell North, (1970), p 112, Mrs. R.R. Purdy collection

Initially, rich gold ore valued at $100 per ton was hauled from the site using automobiles. When the tents started to from the city, the district is described as “forging ahead” by nearby newspapers. The town supported its 300 citizens from eight active mines. The small town supported three grocery stores, two lumbers, seven saloons and a meat market. For those who do not want to do the math, that is one saloon for every 43 citizens. In April, 1908 the Reno Evening Gazette reported lumbered being shipped to the mine camp by the carload and that the mining tents were being replaced with wooden structures. The completion of the Hotel and other larger structures was slowed by wood shortages.

During its heyday, people could reach the town by travelling by train to Huxley and then jumping on the daily stage service. A new road was petitioned to the county to connect to nearby Miriam. This new route would allow heavy freight to be shipped from the railroad without crossing the muddy, rough crossing salt flats.

One year after its start, Jessup was on the declined after the initial boom faltered in the fall of 1909. Investment continued into the mines and the area, however it was clear the time of Jessup was past.

Town Summary

NameJessup Nevada
LocationChurchill County, Nevada
Latitude, Longitude39.948611, -118.875
Elevation4550 Feet
Population300
Post OfficeMarch 1908 – July 1912
Continue Reading →

La Plata Nevada – Churchill County Ghost Town

Posted on by

Following the discovery of silver in 1862, La Plata Nevada is a ghost town locate in and the second county seat of Churchill County, Nevada. The site is found on the eastern slope of the Still Water Range about thirty miles East of Fallon. The town was founded at the convergence of La Plata Canyon and Silver Wave Canyon. The name of the town and the canyon is derived from the Spanish word for silver.

This ten-stamp mill built in 1864 at the lower end of La Plata - Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps - Paher
This ten-stamp mill built in 1864 at the lower end of La Plata – Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps – Paher

The mines of La Plata were not overly successful. Despite investment from eastern capitalists, wide area prospecting resulted in discouraging results. The Silver Wave Mining Company owned the townsite and a 1500-acre ranch. The mining company start a small mill in anticipation of profitable ore.

The town was the second county seat of Churchill County from 1864 until 1868. The court house was a converted structure purchase for $700 from Anton Kaufman on on October 15, 1864. The townsite climate was described as “delightful, atmosphere pure, bracing, and wholesome” by the Hon. George W. Stein, of Easton, Pennsylvania, President of the “Silver Wave Company,”

The town hosted a Post Office, the mills and a few businesses, including the Warren House, the La Plata Hotel and Pioneer Saloon. The town was V-shaped due its location at the convergence of two canyons. Plans were made for a much larger townsite, however, the ore simply did not support the plans. A special election was held on October 22, 1867 and as a result the county seat was was moved to the town Stillwater, in 1868.

There was a short revival of La Plata mines in the spring of 1906, but a revival was not in the forecast for this location.

Town Summary

NameLa Plata
LocationChurchill County, Nevada
Latitude, Longitude39.449350216615784, -118.31154064991719
Eleation5280 ft
Post OfficeApril 13, 1865 – November 25, 1867

La Plata Trail Map

References

Troy Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

Posted on by

In May 1867, prospector Alexander Beatty worked the the Grant Mountain range when he discovered silver and founded the town site of Troy, in Nye County, Nevada. Beatty quickly stacked five different claims in the valley. In 1868, Beatty started the Troy Mining District.

Troy Nevada is located in Nye County, Nevada.

In 1868, the town attracted a group of investors from England. After prospecting and exploring the area, these investors purchased Beattys mining claims and The Troy Silver Mining Company was founded in 1870.

The little town of Troy, in 1871 was home to seventy miners and their families. Their needs were meet with two general stores, a school, blacksmith shop, boarding house and an unofficial post office. The Troy Silver Mining company invested some $500,000.00 into the mining facilities and built a modern 20-stamp mill and furnaces.

Despite fund raising, the new mining company was not destined to be the next great boom town. The mines never produced as anticipated and by 1872 the company was on the verge of going under. In 1873 a new manager was able to get silver production up to keep the mines open. Flooding in the mines and the speculation from the flooding caused the stock prices to plummet. Despite this news, the stock holders voted to keep mining operations in place.

In 1876, the end finally came for Troy when the mines were closed and the assets sold and moved including the mills and furnaces. In December of that year, the Troy Silver Mining Company was dissolved.

George Sharp, a nearby rancher, purchased the mine site for back taxes in 1902. He demolished one of the two furnace chimneys for the raw materials for his ranch. Sharp sold the claims to the Birdno family.

The mining camp saw various revivals over the next 50 years. The population would teeter back and forth between 1904 – 1920. The Birdo Family sold out the claims and divested in 1936.

The final operations in the valley started in 1946 when the Locke Mine was opened above the town of Troy by Joseph Hafen. The Locke Mine produced gold and pipe delivered to water up to the mine to produce electricity for a mill which was assembled. The Locke Mined operated until the mid 1960s.

Town Summary

NameTroy Nevada
LocationNye County, Nevada
Latitude, Longitude38.34578302126987, -115.57371331915309
Elevation6000 feet
Population100

Troy Nevada Trail Map

References