Tag: Nye County

Nye County, located in the state of Nevada, is known for its vast stretches of desert landscapes and rugged terrain. It is the largest county in Nevada by area, encompassing a diverse range of environments from expansive desert valleys to high mountain ranges. The county is famous for its association with Area 51, a secretive military installation, adding an air of mystery to its reputation. Nye County is sparsely populated, with much of its economy driven by mining, agriculture, and tourism centered around outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, off-roading, and exploring historical sites like ghost towns from the mining era. It offers visitors and residents alike a chance to experience the wild beauty of the American West amidst its stark, untamed scenery.

Carrara Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

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Carrara in Nye County Nevada

Carrara Ghost town is a small ghost town and marble mine located about ten miles south of Beatty in Nye County, Nevada on the east side of US 95.

In 1904 first attempts to quarry the high quality marble at the Carrara site. These initial efforts failed with the inability to produce larger slabs from the highly fractured and unstable marble.  More suitable deposits of marble are found in 1911. The American Carrara Marble Company laid out the Carrara town. The town was named for Carrara, Italy, which produced world class marble. 

A Metropolis in waiting

The marble is hauled by a standard cable railway down three miles from the quarry to town. This designed utilized town cars on a single track. At the midway point, siding in the tracked allowed the two trains to pass each other in opposing directions. The car at the top of the track loaded with marble would supply all the pull the empty car at the bottom of the track up the mountain on a free return.

Rail lines were already available in the Vegas and Tonopah Railroad. Water is pumped from Gold Center, NV using a nine mile long pipe line. The supply was generous enough to allow the town to boast a town fountain, which would shoot water six feet into the air. The fountain was built by the Marble Company to promote the appearance of longevity for the fledgling town.

The rail road line to town is completed in 1914. Soon thereafter, large marble blocks, which could weight up to 15 tons, are shipped to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, the large marble blocks are cut to size, finished and polished.

Eventually, the company with founded the town lost profits. The towns people saw hardship and soon moved away. With the exception of a few hangers on, the town is gone in 1924.

The town boasted a newspaper appropriately named the Carrara Obelisk ( 5/8/1913 – 09/1916 ), a post office, hotel, store, saloon and restaurant to serve the 150 people who called the place home. The site contained  about 40 buildings. The post office was open from May 5, 1913 to September 15, 2914.

Carrara Town Summary

NameCarrara Nevada
LocationNye County, Nevada
Population 150
Post OfficeMay 5, 1913 – September 15, 2914
NewspapersCarrara Obelisk Feb 7, 1914 – Sept 9, 1916
Carrara Miner July 21, 1929

Carrara Trail Map

Resources

Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps

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Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps - By Stanley W. Paher
Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps – By Stanley W. Paher

Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps is a wonderful book written by Stanley W. Paher and published by Nevada Publications. The book is Copyright 1970 and contains 492 pages of “Brillantly illustrated with 700 historic and modern photographs; with numerous maps, complete index, appendix and bibliography.” This book contains information and stories from more than 575 mining sites and ghost towns in Nevada.

My copy of this book was purchased by my father for $15 at a thrift store. The pages are dog eared and well worn and covered in yellow post-it notes for later reference. The book is wonderfully organized, the source of a lot of great information about the early days of Nevada mining. The stories, photographs paint a fantastic picture of the rough and rugged individuals who settled my new home state. In many ways, the enjoyment and knowledge that I have, is based and builds upon the great work of Mr. Paher.

Stanley Paher grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and jeeped thousands of miles over the rough roads of back country Nevada. He graduated from Sacramento State with a B.A. in English. He continued his educations at the University of Nevada, where, in 1969 he earned a Masters Degree in Political Science.

The book is available for purchase from Amazon and quite a hefty price on this writing, however you can find it much cheaper at various other online stores.

Anyone who is at all interested in ghost towns, mining or Nevada history really needs a copy of this book in his/her library.

700 photographs and maps both historic and modern make a fascinating detailed and accurately researched history of nearly 600 towns and camps. A must for collectors.

Book Summary

TitleNevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps
AuthorStanley Paher
PublisherHowell North
Edition
Pages492 Pages
ISBN-13: 978-0913814048
ISBN-10: 0913814040

Additional Reading

Berlin Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

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Berlin Nevada - 1910
Berlin Nevada – 1910

Berlin Nevada is a ghost town located in Nye County, Nevada and found within the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park some 19 miles east of Gabbs. Originally founded in 1895 by State Senator Bell, Berlin was named for Berlin Germany, the home land for some of the local prospectors. Berlin was worked for silver when the enterprise was sold to John G. Stokes of New York.

The Nevada Company bought up property in 1898 including the Knickerbocker and Pioner mills new Ione, Nevada. All of the machinery was then moved up to Berlin where it was used to build a thirty stamp mill and production was started.

The town of Berlin Nevada continued to prosper and grow and supported some 250 citizens who benefited from a store, post office, schoolhouse, auto shop and stage lines to nearby settlements.

The school house in Berlin, Nevada
The school house in Berlin, Nevada

Following many other towns, Berlin Nevada says its production falter during the panic of 1907, which was caused by the San Francisco Earthquake of the prior year. At its height, the towns 75 buildings housed some 300 people. Ore yields continued to fall and the mills were shutdown despite a report from a Goldfield newspaper from the previous year which stated that ore was available for at least three more years.

Perhaps not wanting to read the writing on the wall, between 1911 and 1914 develop of a fifty ton cyanide plant was completed and continued to work the tailings of Berlin. However, this late effort only recovered about $2.50 per ton. The Berlin Mine boasted over three miles of tunnels, but the mine failed to produce at just under $1 million in silver and gold.

During World War II, the large mill was dismantled of its machinery. Today, the town is part of a state park and several structures are preserved including a machine shop, assay office and mine supervisors house. The 30 stamp mill is preserved and stabilized and is one of the best in the state.

Berlin Town Summary

NameBerlin Nevada
LocationNye County, Nevada
Latitude, Longitude38.8818713, -117.6076020
Elevation2059 meters / 6756 feet
GNIS858871
Population300

Berlin Trail Map

Manhattan Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

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Manhattan Nevada 1906
Manhattan Nevada 1906

Located about fifty miles north of Tonopah, Manhattan Nevada is ghost town located at the end of Nevada State Route 377 in Nye County, Nevada. Originally founded in 1866, the location is one of many which experienced a silver boom. The ore from this production was processed in Belmot, Nevada however the district was in 1871.

1905 brought new life to the district as a gold boom and “4,000 people flooded into the region”. The story is that on April 1st, 1905, John Humphrey and two companions discovered a gold while riding after cattle in the area. The new mine was dubbed the April Fool mine. Better discoveries were soon found in the area, undoubtedly due to the influx of people and a total of eight townsites were stacked. The end of 1905 found a gold ledge assayed at $10,000 per ton and several hundred citizens living in the town.

South end of April Fool Hill, showing workings in the White Caps Mine limestone. The outcrop of folded limestone is outlined by the position of the shallow shafts. Nye County, Nevada. 1915. Plate 13-A in U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin 723. 1924.
South end of April Fool Hill, showing workings in the White Caps Mine limestone. The outcrop of folded limestone is outlined by the position of the shallow shafts. Nye County, Nevada. 1915. Plate 13-A in U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin 723. 1924.

Manhattan continued to flourish in 1906 with the town swelling by 4,000 people in just two weeks time. Freight wagons, automobiles and stages all hauled supplies into the fledgling town and the road between Manhattan and Tonopah was traveled 24 hours a day. To support this influx of people and entrepreneurial saloon keepers sold floor space for people to sleep and a bath cost $3. Although most people lived in a quickly erected tent city, lots along main street were sold for between $1300 and $1900 and several wood framed structures housed the various local businesses.

The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 dealt a blow to the mining industry when Manhattan was “humming loudest”. Investment from the bay area dried up, while the citizens of San Francisco prioritized the rebuilding efforts. Local mines all but ceased production during this time.

Placer mine in western part of Manhattan Gulch, showing sluice boxes and pond. Nye County, Nevada. 1915. Plate 17-B in U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin 723. 1924.
Placer mine in western part of Manhattan Gulch, showing sluice boxes and pond. Nye County, Nevada. 1915. Plate 17-B in U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin 723. 1924.

The town on Manhattan saw a resurgance in 1909 and the population of 800 to 1000 people and their town matured into great little town. Local mines produced Gold, Silver and Copper, while Frank Garside published a weekly newspapper, the Post. The town continued its mining operations, including a gold dredge.

In total, the mines of Manhattan Nevada produced a total of 10.3 million dollars until it ceased operations in 1947. Today, Manhattan is home to 124 people and boasts two bars, The Miner’s Saloon and and The Manhattan Bar and Motel.

Manhattan Nevada Map

Tybo Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

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Tybo Nevada - 1875
Tybo Nevada – 1875

Tybo Nevada is a ghost town in Nye County located some 8 miles north west of U.S Route 6 and some 10 miles north east of Warm Sprints Nevada. The towns name is dervied from the Shoshone phrase tybbabo or tai-vu and is translated as “white man’s district”.

The townsite of Tybo was first introduced by the Native Americans to the white man in 1870 when they told of small seems of silver ore. Initially, the miners only worked small seems of silver ore, until later in 1870 they discovered the 2G main load. Despite this find, the boom of the town site of Tybo did not occur until 1874.

Tybo, Nevada - 1881
Tybo, Nevada – 1881

Early on, unlike other mining camps and boom towns, the town enjoyed a peaceful reputation. It was reported in the nearby Belmont news paper, that the lack of shootings and fights were not a good sign for the start up town. This reputation was not to last, in 1875 found the import of Chinese laborors to cut pinon lumber to produce charcoal for the smelters. The white laborers revolted and ran the Chinese out of town is whips and bullets, for undercutting the lumber workers wages.

The Trowridge General Store in Tybo Nevada - 1881
The Trowridge General Store in Tybo Nevada – 1881

Between 1875 and 1877 the small town of Tybo grew to support a population of about 1000 people, and the location was the sensation of the county. The Trowbridge Store, Rosenthal Store, Streitberger Store, Barney McCann’s Restaurant, W.F.Mills, and Company Bank were just some of the businesses which owed their existence to the 2G mine. In 1877, 187.5 tons of freight were brought in to town by 16 mule teams from nearby Eureka. 262 tons of lead and silver bullion were taken from the town by the same teams.

The Tybo Consolidated Mining Company failed in 1879 due to ore reduction difficulties. Like many other mining towns, this singular failure caused the newly found caused the company town to in 1880. The town of Tybo continued to linger with multiple attempts at resurgence ub 1901, 1906 and 1917. The mills steadily produced 500,000 tons of lead and zinc ore until 1944

Tybo Nevada today exists in a deep canyon in the mountains and .boasts a cemetery, brick and wooden ruins including a head frame.

Tybo Town Summary

NameTybo Nevada
LocationNye County, Nevada
NewspaperTybo Weekly Sun Sept 1877 – Sept 1879

Tybo Nevada Map

References