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Aerial view of Virginia City in 1877
Photo courtesy of Terri
McBride |
In 1859, placer miners and prospectors in the western Great Basin made
two remarkable strikes of gold and silver ore breaching a mountain's slope
near Virginia City. The Comstock Lode, as people soon called the ore body,
generated a spectacular amount of wealth and established Virginia City
as a place on the map. Unlike the small settlements throughout California's
Gold Country, Nevada's Comstock District was a highly urbanized, industrial
setting, and established a model that all future mining developments generally
followed. By the early 1870s, the mining district's capital, Virginia
City, together with its smaller neighbor, Gold Hill, reached a population
of nearly 25,000, becoming one of the nation's larger communities. Virginia
City was decimated by the Great Fire of October 25, 1875, which swept
through the city and left nearly 10,000 homeless, but residents were quick
to rebuild in the booming economy.
View of C St. from 1877
Photo courtesy of Terri McBride |
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However, by the 1890s, it was becoming clear that the good times were
over. It had been years since miners had discovered any new bonanzas,
and thousands of people were leaving for better opportunities. By the
time of the Great Depression of the 1930s, Virginia City had declined,
shrinking into a town of only several hundred people. The town today is
a remarkable collection of 19th-century buildings, abandoned shafts and
adits (an almost horizontal entrance to a mine), and thousands of historic
archeological sites that convey the rich heritage of this remarkable mining
district, recognized as one of just six National
Historic Landmarks in the state of Nevada.
Learn more about the historic district's history in our essay about
Virginia City.
The Virginia City Historic District includes the populated settlements
of Virginia City, Gold Hill, Silver City and Dayton, as well as open
land dotted with historic and archeological features associated with
mining activities. The district includes almost 400 buildings and covers
14,750 acres. For information on sites that are open to the public,
visit the Virginia City Convention and Tourism Authority website
for further information.
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