Tag: Nye County

Downeyville, Nevada

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Downeyville is an old mining camp and ghost town located in Nye County, Nevada.  In May 1877 silver-lead discoveries in the area caused a large influx of start up mining camps and development.  Most of a local site, Ellsworth, made the journey to the yet to be named location.  So many people made the trip, that frequently, they were greeted with no accommodations and would be forced to sleep outside or camp.

The town of Downeyville was founded in 1878 and had a populationsof 200 men, stores, stables, Wells Fargo Express, saloons and stage lines.  A post office was added in March of 1879 and the town was named after the first postmaster, P. Downey.  By 1881 ore was shipped to the nearby Carson & Colorado railroad for processing, until a lead smelter was constructed several years later.  Like many boom towns, Downeyville passed into history with the next big discovery and by 1901 the post office was discontinued.

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Bonnie Claire, Nevada

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Located off highway 267 East of Death Valley National Park Gold, Bonnie Clarie is a mine site and ghost town that is easy to explore from the highway in Nye County, Nevada.   Bonnie Claire began life with a 5 stamp mill located in Thorp’s Well,  in the early 1880s.  The mill in Thorp’s Well processed ore for three active mines in the area for twenty years.  At this point, the mill was purchased by the Bonnie Clarie Bullfrog Mining Company to process materials from the Gold Mountain District.

In 1904 a second Mill, the Bonnie Claire mill, was built near the stage stop in Thorp which service travelers from Goldfield and Bullfrog and a post office followed in 1905.

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Carrara

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

Cararra, NV as seen from US 95 south to Beatty, NV

Cararra, NV as seen from US 95 south to Beatty, NV

First attempts to quarry the marble at the Carrara site were made in 1904, but these initial efforts failed with the inability to produce larger slabs from the highly fractured marble.  In 1911, addition deposits were found more suitable, and the town was laid out in Carrara Canyon by the American Carrara Marble Company.  Rails were already available and water was pumped in from Gold Center, NV.  The town site was officially dedicated in 1913.

The town boast a newspaper appropriately named the Obelisk, a post office, hotel, store and restaurant to serve the 100 people who called the place home.   In 1914, the rail road was completed, and soon large marble blocks were shipped down to Los Angeles, CA for finishing.   The town and its people saw hardship and soon moved in in the 1920s.

Chloride City, Nevada

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Chloride City is located within Death Valley National Park and it arose out of silver discoveries in nearby Chloride Cliff in 1873, the earliest of the Death Valley mines. The first road through Death Valley was constructed from Chloride City to San Bernardino 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

 

 

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Rhyolite, Nevada

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Rhyolite

Rhyolite, Nevada

Rhyolite is a ghost town location just outside of the Eastern edge of Death Valley National monument in Nye country, Nevada.  Founded in 1905 by Shorty Harris when he discovered quartz with load of “Free Gold”, Rhyolite started as a gold mining camp in the surrounding Bullfrog mining district.

As was common with gold rush towns, Rhyolite quickly developed all of the modern amenities of day, including newspapers, schools, hospitals and electrical power.

The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and a financial panic of 1907 dried up capital investment which doomed the town, which closed in 1911.  Today, several building shells still exist, along with the infamous Bottle House, and outdoor museum.  The town is accessible via paved roads, which ruins the “ghosttown” effect and detracts a bit from the location.  In spite of this, it is easily accessible and worth a stop when you are in the area.

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