The Journey is the destination
Now on private property, Lida Nevada is a ghost town and mining camp located in Esmeralda County, Nevada just off State Route 266. The area probably saw it first activity in the 1860’s when Mexican and Native Americans worked the surrounding hills for gold. Their efforts were limited by their ability to extract gold from the ore. In the spring of 1867, American prospects arrived in Lida Valley and took steps to organize a mining district.
The Columbia Nevada ghost town and mine site is location just one mile north of Goldfield in Esmeralda County Nevada. Originally named Stimler, the town was renamed to Columbia in 1902 in the Goldfield District. The Columbia mines are located near the base of Columbia Mountain which provided the inspiration for the name.
The various mines in the Goldfield district were spread out into smaller suburbs to prevent the crowding problems which Tonopah suffered. Columbia and Diamondfield are examples of this new practice.
Continue Reading →Located just five miles north-northeast of Goldfield, Diamondfield is a ghost town and mine camp in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The camp was founded by Jackson Lee “Diamondfield Jack” Davis who was pardoned for murder in Idaho and moved to Nevada where is started several mining camps. In the spring of 1903, when news of promising gold strikes in Goldfield, Davis travelled to the location. After exploring and prospecting he uncovered promising ore ledges on McMahon Ridge northeast of town.
Founded in 1860s, Gold Point, is a ghost time and silver mining camp located in Esmerelda County, Nevada. The townsite was known by three different names, depending upon the ore being actively mined at the time. Lime deposits in 1868 saw the formation of the town “Lime Point”. The ore was hauled to nearby Lida for processing.
Operations were stopped in 1882 when the huge processing costs, inefficient milling and the distance to the railroads were the contributing factors. The growth of Tonapah gave the area better facilities for ore processing. In 1903 and 1904 a rush in Goldfield virtually emptied the district. Interest returned to the district in 1905 when the Great Western Mine opened operations.
Continue Reading →Potosi Nevada is the oldest lode mine in Nevada and the town site is located just off highway 160 between Las Vegas and Pahrump, Nevada. The site was started in 1856 by some Mormon prospectors who were lead to the location with the help of a Piute guide. The Mormons found the site in April 1856 and a month latter it was named Potosi after the boyhood home of Nathaniel Jones. They did not begin mining until August after a return trip to Utah for supplies.
By September, the first wagon of ore sent back to Utah for trading and three months later three wagons returned with supplies including bellows, furnace, and hearths among other things. On Christmas day 1856, an crude adobe furnace was used to smelt ore.
In the spring of 1861, a larger smelter was setup by the Colorado Mining Company at the Potosi Spring. News of new silver mine spread all over the west in no time. The town of Potosi was setup 700 feet below of the Potosi Mine or the Las Vegas Silver Mines as they were called and was soon home to 100 miners.
The site continued to slowly grow and develop until 1906. In 1913 the Empire Zinc Company purchased the rights and was soon Potosi was Nevada’s largest producer of Zinc. After nearly 100 years of production Potosi produced about 4.5 million in lead, silver and zinc.
| Name | Potosi |
| Location | Clark County, Nevada |
| GNIS | 849366 |
| Latitude, Longitude | 35.9708047, -115.5408395 |
| Elevation | 5705 |
| Population | 100 |