Columbus, Nevada | |
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  Columbus Location within the state of Nevada  Columbus Columbus (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 38°06′37″N118°01′09″W / 38.11028°N 118.01917°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Nevada |
| County | Esmeralda |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| Reference no. | 20 |
Columbus was a borax mining boom town in Esmeralda County. Its remnants are located on the edge of the Columbus Salt Marsh.
In 1863, a group of Spanish miners discovered silver in the area. The Columbus mining camp was established two years later, when American miners began to mine gold and silver nearby. A stamp mill was moved to town from Aurora in 1866. Columbus was the ideal location for a mill, as it was the only stop for several miles with sufficient amounts of water for the operation of a mill. It wasn't until 1871 that borax was discovered near the town's site, and as a result Columbus increased substantially in its importance. [1] [2]
Borax was discovered at a salt marsh near town by William Troop in 1871. The site later became known as the Columbus Marsh. [1] By 1873, four borax companies were actively working the deposits on the marsh. Columbus' zenith occurred around 1875 when there was around 1,000 people in the town. Borax plants were running continuously day and night, for eight months during the year. The town had a post office and local newspaper, The Borax Miner, an adobe school, an iron foundry. Stage express offered daily service to Fish Lake Valley, Candelaria, and after 1876, Wadsworth. [2]
Columbus declined after 1875 when the Pacific Borax Company built a larger plant at Fish Lake, 30 miles south of town. By 1880, the town population had dwindled to 100 people. [1] By the mid-1880s, mining and commercial activity had ceased in the area, and Columbus slowly became a ghost town. [2]
William Caruthers, in his "Loafing Along Death Valley Trails" (Ontario: Death Valley Publishing Co., 1951) says that Francis M. "Borax" Smith discovered the borax at Columbus Marsh.
Rhyolite is a ghost town in Nye County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is in the Bullfrog Hills, about 120 miles (190 km) northwest of Las Vegas, near the eastern boundary of Death Valley National Park.
Daggett is an unincorporated community located in San Bernardino County, California in the United States. The town is located on Interstate 40 ten miles (16 km) east of Barstow. The town has a population of about 200. The ZIP code is 92327 and the community is inside area code 760.
Francis Marion Smith was an American miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Oakland, California.
The Pacific Coast Borax Company (PCB) was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis Smith, the "Borax King".
Fish Lake Valley is a ghost town located in the geographic Fish Lake Valley, within Esmeralda County, Nevada and Inyo County, California.
Mercur is a historical hard rock mining ghost town in Tooele County, Utah, United States. In 1891, it became the site of the first successful use of the cyanide process of gold extraction in the United States, the dominant metallurgy today. Its elevation above sea level is approximately 2,042 m. The nearby Mercur Gold Mine was re-opened by Barrick Gold in 1985, with mining operations again coming to an end in 1997. The reclamation and restoration project was set to continue up to 2010.
Ivanpah was a short-lived silver mining town located in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It was founded in 1869 and existed until at least the mid-1880s.
Marietta, Nevada, was a town in Mineral County, Nevada. It is now a ghost town.
The Fish Lake Valley is a 25 miles (40 km) long endorheic valley in southwest Nevada, one of many contiguous inward-draining basins collectively called the Great Basin. The alluvial valley lies just northwest of Death Valley and borders the southeast, and central-northeast flank of the massif of the White Mountains of California. The southwestern portion of the valley lies in California, with the southern tip at the edge of Inyo County east of the Chocolate Mountains, and a significant portion of the south end of the valley floor including the ranching community of Oasis, in Mono County. The valley is sparsely populated, primarily with ranchers and indigenous Paiute. The valley's Post Office and commercial services are located in the town of Dyer.
Newhouse is a ghost town located on the eastern edge of the Wah Wah Valley in Beaver County, Utah, United States. A silver mining town based on the Cactus Mine on the western slopes of the San Francisco Mountains, Newhouse was smaller and quieter than Frisco, 5 miles (8.0 km) to the southeast.
Silver Reef is a ghost town in Washington County, Utah, United States, about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of St. George and 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Leeds. Silver Reef was established after John Kemple, a prospector from Nevada, discovered a vein of silver in a sandstone formation in 1866. At first, geologists were uncertain about Kemple's find because silver is not usually found in sandstone. In 1875, two bankers from Salt Lake City sent William Barbee to the site to stake mining claims. He staked 21 claims, and an influx of miners came to work Barbee's claims and to stake their own. To accommodate the miners, Barbee established a town called Bonanza City. Property values there were high, so several miners settled on a ridge to the north of it and named their settlement Rockpile. The town was renamed Silver Reef after silver mines in nearby Pioche closed and businessmen arrived.
Ruby Hill is a ghost town in Eureka County, in the central part of the U.S. state of Nevada, approximately 2.6 mi (4.2 km) west of the town of Eureka, Nevada. In 1910, the Ruby Hill Railroad was washed out, after which there were only three businesses in town.
Dun Glen is a ghost town in Pershing County, Nevada, United States, 9 miles northeast of Mill City. Established in 1862, the mining camp soon became one of the largest towns in northern Nevada. By 1880, mining had declined and the town was abandoned. With a silver discovery in the area in 1908, the settlement attracted people and was re-named Chafey. Chafey was abandoned when mining operations stopped in 1913.
Kearsarge or Kearsarge City is a former mining settlement in Inyo County, eastern California. It was located high on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada, near Kearsage Pass, 8 miles (13 km) west of present-day town of Independence, California.
The Waterloo Mining Railroad, also known as the Calico Railroad or Daggett-Calico Railroad, was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad built to carry silver ore from the mines in the Calico Mountains north of Calico to the mills located at Elephant Mountain near Daggett, California, from 1888 to 1903.
Rhodes, Nevada is a former rail station and Post Office on the Carson and Colorado Railway in Mineral County, Nevada.
Cortez is a ghost town in Lander County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place.
Tempiute is a ghost town in Lincoln County, Nevada United States.
Salt Wells, Nevada is the site of a former brothel and a possible future route of Interstate 11. Salt Wells is located on the northern edge of the Salt Wells Marsh, 15 miles southeast of Fallon, Nevada on U.S. Route 50 near Sand Mountain.
Mineral Hill is a ghost town in Eureka County, Nevada, US.
Municipalities and communities of Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States | ||
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| Ghost towns | ||