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.

Manhattan Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

Posted on by
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

Posted on by
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

Belmont Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

Posted on by

Following a silver strike and quartz vein by a Native American in the area, Belmont Nevada was founded in Nye County, Nevada. The silver boom along with other minerals including copper, lead and antimony brought in the settles and the town of Belmont was growing in 1867.

Belmont in 1871
Belmont in 1871

Located at 8000 feet in the Toquima range, the small town was the center of the Philidelphia Mining District. In 1867, the small town became the county seat for Nye County when this honor was transferred from Ione, which was in decline at this time. The settlement boasted two saloons, four stores, post office, livery, bank, assay office school and all of the assorted business to support the mining activities. A court house was built in the county seat in 1875 by the county commission, which still stands today.

Like many small mining towns, the prosperity of Belmont the ebbed and flowed with the price of metals. The town boomed in 1866/67 and between the years of 1883 and 1885. The estimated population of the town ranged between 4,000 and 15,000.

In 1887, meager mineral production caused to town to wain and soon the sole purpose of Belmont was to provide government service. This sole source of industry was removed in 1905 when the county seat was relocated to nearby Tonopah, Nevada.

CANFIELD'S MILL, BELMONT, NEVADA - NARA - 524117
CANFIELD’S MILL, BELMONT, NEVADA – NARA – 524117

Belmont Town Summary

NameBelmont Nevada
LocationNye County, Nevada
NewspaperSilver Bend Reporter Mar 30, May 11, 25, 1867;July 29, 1868

Mountain Champion June 3, 1868 – Apr 24, 1869

Belmont Courier Feb 14, 1874 – Mar 2, 1901

Belmont Nevada State Historic Marker Text

Belmont sits at an elevation of 7,400 feet. A spring flowing year round made this a gathering site of the Shoshone Indians for rabbit drives and celebrations.

In 1865, silver ore discoveries led to the development of an attractive tree-shaded mercantile community.  East Belmont became the mining and milling center. A wide range of nationalities worked the mines, operated businesses, and provided services.  At its height, Belmont had schools, churches, a post office, and a newspaper, as well as a Chinatown, a red-light district, and a racetrack. The town was the Nye County seat from 1867 to 1905, and a courthouse survives from this period.

Belmont had a reputation as a rowdy town. Incidents of saloon brawls, vigilante actions, shootings, hangings, and feuds made the town notorious. Well known Nevadans such as Jack Longstreet, Tasker Oddie, Jim Butler, and Andrew Maute all participated in local early history.

Silver production totaling four million dollars was from high grade but shallow ore. By 1890, most mines ceased to be profitable and were forced to shut down. Belmont’s population dwindled as most residents left for new discoveries in nearby mining towns.

STATE HISTORIC MARKER No. 138
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE

Nevada State Historic Marker Summary

NameBelmont
LocationNye County, Nevada
Nevada State Historic Marker138
Latitude, Longitude38.5959, -116.8755

Belmont Trail Map

References

Ione Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

Posted on by

Ione Nevada is a ghost town, which is located in Nye County, Nevada. In April 1863 a silver stike was made by P. A. Haven in the Shoshone Range. Haven had failed in earlier efforts working the Comstock. The mining camp was named Ione after the herione in the book, “The Last Days of Pompeii”. Ione was founded later that year, in November 1863. The mining camp developed into a town with an influx of people from near by Austin and served as a trading and milling center. Ione Nevada started small and boasted about 50 buildings in 1863.

Ione settlement, with Ione Valley in the background, c 1900
Ione settlement, with Ione Valley in the background, c 1900

The people of the new town were soon petitioning for the formation of a new county and in 1864, Nye County was founded within Nevada. The county’s first courthouse was built in Ione with an $800.00 stipend from the newly formed county. The court house was a sound investment and still stands to this day. In 1864 the new town boasted a post office and a population of 600 people and over 100 buildings.

As with many towns in the area and of the era, Ione soon started to decline, with its population moving to nearby Belmont, Nevada. In February 1867, the county seat followed the people to Belmont. The towns population fell to 175 in 1868.

Ione Nevada
Ione Nevada

The town languished for a while. In 1896 a 10-stamp mill was built on the site and the following year the majority of mining and milling interests were purchased by A. Phelps Strodes who further invested in the site. However, Iones fortunes fell with the price of silver a year later.

The small town profited off the discovery of mercury in 1912. The rusty colored cinnabar was passed over in the excitement and profits of gold and silver. The mercury sustained Ione Nevada into the 1930’s. The post office was closed in 1959.

Ione Trail Map

Chloride City California – Inyo County Ghost Town

Posted on by

Chloride City California is located within Death Valley National Park and Inyo County, California. The town arose out of silver discoveries in nearby Chloride Cliff in 1873 and is one of the earliest of the Death Valley mines.

The first road through Death Valley was constructed from Chloride City, California to San Bernardino, California which was the nearest town 180 miles away. In the 1870’s ore was shipped out using trains of pack mules which would return carrying food and supplies to the camp. The mines of this small community struggled on for a few years, but by 1880 no mines were producing and everybody had moved on.

Crowells Mill under construction in Chloride City, CA about 1915
Crowells Mill under construction in Chloride City, CA about 1915

The nearby Bullfrog, Nevada, gold discovery excitement of 1904 brought in new capital. The Chloride Cliff Mine was bought by investors in nearby Rhyolite and re-opened in 1908. Sufficient ore was produced in subsequent years to warrant the construction of a cyanide mill in 1916. By 1918 the camp was deserted again.

The ghost town contains numerous adits, dumps and the grave of James McKay, of whom nothing is known. The town also holds the remains of three stamp mills.

Chloride City Trail Map