Columbus, Nevada | |
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  Cortez Location within the state of Nevada  Cortez Cortez (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 40°08′28″N116°36′12″W / 40.14111°N 116.60333°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Nevada |
| County | Lander |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
Cortez is a ghost town in Lander County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place. [1]
Located near Mount Tenabo, Cortez first attracted attention in 1862, when Mexican miners transported silver ore from the site to stamp mills in Austin, 80 miles (130 km) south. In the spring of 1863, a group of eight miners exploring the area, came across Native Americans collecting silver in gulleys southwest of the Mount Tenabo mountains. Investigating the source of the silver ore, the group climbed the rock face above, and located the ledges of silver. The discovery led to the organization of the Cortez district. [2]
A few months later, roads were constructed from the town site to the mining area. Machinery to build an eight-stamp mill in town was transported from California. The community was named after Hernán Cortés, the 16th-century Spanish conquistador. [3]
In 1864, Simon Wenban, one of the original eight miners, and George Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst, became mining partners. Hearst sold his shares in the partnership in 1867, when the miners encountered problems that slowed operations. [2] By 1870, Wenban had enlarged the mill in town, and was employing Chinese miners because they were willing to work for lower wages than American and Mexican workers. For the next 20 years, the mining district was profitable. A fifty-ton leaching plant was built in 1886, and ran continuously until the mid-1890s. [2]
Cortez thrived until the depression of the 1930s. [2] A post office was in operation at Cortez intermittently between 1868 and 1943. [4]
In 1969, the Cortez Gold Mine was established in Cortez. [2]
The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada, which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States and named after American miner Henry Comstock.
Silver City is a Census Designated Place and small residential community in Lyon County, Nevada, USA, near the Lyon/Carson border. The population as of the 2020 census was 155.
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Blair, Nevada is a mining ghost town in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
Picacho is an unincorporated community in Imperial County, California. It is located on the Colorado River 29 miles (47 km) south-southeast of Palo Verde, at an elevation of 203 feet.
Candelaria is a ghost town in Mineral County, Nevada. Today the site of Candelaria is dominated by the Kinross Gold Candelaria Mine on Mt. Diablo.
Mount Tenabo is the principal peak in the Cortez Mountains. The mountain is of cultural and religious significance to the Western Shoshone people.
Cortez Gold Mine is a large gold mining and processing facility in Lander and Eureka County, Nevada, United States, located approximately 63 miles (100 km) southwest of Elko. It is owned as a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corporation (61.5%) and Newmont Corporation (38.5%), operated by Barrick, and comprises the Pipeline, Crossroads, and Cortez Hills open pit mines; and the Cortez Hills underground mine. Ore from the mines is treated at an oxide mill at the site and on leach pads, while refractory ore is shipped to Barrick’s Goldstrike operation for processing.
Poeville, also known as Peavine until 1863, is the site of a historical mining town, established in 1864. John Poe, a professional promoter from Michigan allegedly related to Edgar Allan Poe, discovered rich gold and silver veins in 1862 on the slopes of Peavine Mountain. After the discovery of ore, Poe announced that the veins comprised the next Comstock Lode; he presented extracted ore at the state fair of 1864 as rich in content. As a result, the former mining camp, called Poe City (Poeville) or Podunk (Poedunk), grew to 200 people by 1864. Ore production in the mining district and population peaked around 1873-1874 with several hundred people living in town, supported by three hotels and a post office. The post office, named "Poeville", operated between September 1, 1874, and March 24, 1878. As of 2010 the population of the community is 0.
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Palmetto, Nevada is a ghost town in Esmeralda County, in the U.S. state of Nevada.
El Dorado Canyon is a canyon in southern Clark County, Nevada famed for its rich silver and gold mines. The canyon was named in 1857 by steamboat entrepreneur Captain George Alonzo Johnson when gold and silver was discovered here. It drains into the Colorado River at the former site of Nelson's Landing.
Treasure Hill is an east-jutting spur of the White Pine Range of White Pine County in the east central region of the U.S. state of Nevada. It lies to the east of Mount Hamilton and to the northwest of Mokomoke Hill. It is noted for a silver mining boom in the late 1860s: between 1867 and 1880, the total production from area mines was valued at $20 million. The rush drew thousands to new towns such as Hamilton, situated at the northern base of the hill, and Treasure City, located near its peak, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from Hamilton.
Lander is a ghost town in Lander County in Nevada in the United States. The site is approximately 24 miles southeast of Battle Mountain.
Hedges, later renamed Tumco, is a locale, a ghost town, site of a former mining town, in Imperial County, California. It lies at an elevation of 617 feet / 188 meters along the Tumco Wash in the Cargo Muchacho Mountains. Nearby is the Hedges Cemetery at an elevation of 643 feet, at 32°53′04″N114°49′52″W.
Tempiute is a ghost town in Lincoln County, Nevada United States.
Tenabo is a ghost town in Lander County, Nevada United States.
Pyramid City is a ghost town located south of Sutcliffe, Nevada. This location was also sometimes known as Pyramid and should not be confused with Pyramid, Nevada, located north of Sutcliffe. Pyramid City consisted of two mining camps, Upper Pyramid and Lower Pyramid, also known as Pyramid City.
Cornucopia is an extinct town located in Elko County, Nevada. The town used to be well-known for its mining district area, which was established in 1873. Cornucopia was also known under several names, including Milltown and Kaufmanville.
Municipalities and communities of Lander County, Nevada, United States | ||
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| Unincorporated towns |  | |
| Ghost towns | ||