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Virginia City Historic District

Virginia City Historic District is a National Historic Landmark encompassing the former mining villages of Virginia City and Gold Hill, both in Storey County, as well as Dayton and Silver City, both to the south in adjacent Lyon County, Nevada, United States. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, it is one of only six in the state of Nevada. Virginia City was the prototype for future frontier mining boom towns, with its industrialization and urbanization. It owed its success to the 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode. It is laid out in a grid pattern 1,500 feet below the top of Mount Davidson. Most of the buildings are two to three story brick buildings, with the first floors used for saloons and shops. It was the first silver rush town, and the first to intensely apply large-industrial mining methods. After a year in existence, the boomtown had 42 saloons, 42 stores, 6 restaurants, 3 hotels, and 868 dwellings to house a town residency of 2,345. At its height in 1863, the town had 15,000 residents. From its creation in 1859 to 1875, there were five widespread fires. The 1875 fire, dubbed the Great Fire of 1875, caused $12,000,000 in damages. Today, Virginia City is but a shadow of its former glory; however, it still draws over 2 million visitors per year. In 2004, its condition was considered "threatened". One reason is that an inactive mining pit may cause some of the buildings that make up the historic nature of the district to slide into the pit. The cemeteries are constantly vandalized and are in danger of erosion. Continued use of the district for tourism is harming those historical buildings still in use, and neglect of privately held unused buildings increases the damage to the district.

Sutro Tunnel

The Sutro Tunnel is a drainage tunnel connected to the Comstock Lode in Northern Nevada. It begins at Virginia City, Nevada and empties approximately 6 miles southeast near the town of Dayton, Nevada. The tunnel was first envisioned by Adolph Sutro in 1860. He promoted the drainage tunnel in order to allow access to deeper mineral exploration in the Comstock. Mine flooding and inadequate pumps had inhibited some exploration activities up to that time. By 1865, Sutro's idea had gained the approval of state and federal legislation. The mining interests of the Comstock also initially supported the tunnel project, but later strongly opposed the idea. They feared that an alternate access point to the Comstock minerals would threaten their monopoly on the mining and milling of gold and silver in the Comstock. Nonetheless, Sutro formed the Sutro Tunnel Company, selling stock certificates to raise funds for its construction, which began in 1869. Financing also came from local miners under the guise of improved mine safety. This was further advocated by Sutro after the Yellowjacket mine disaster where dozens of miners were burned to death because they could not escape the mine. Arthur De Wint Foote worked on the tunnel in 1873, but was fired in 1874, having struck a flood of water in Shaft No. 2. The main tunnel was completed in 1878. By that time, however, the Comstock mine had gone deeper, using newer improved pumps, and was also thinning out. Lateral tunnels were also created to enhance drainage and ventilation. Upon completion, Adolph Sutro immediately sold his interest in the tunnel company and moved to San Francisco, later becoming mayor of that city, building the Sutro Baths and a small Sutro Tunnel to them. The Sutro Tunnel pioneered the excavation of large drainage and access tunnels in the United States. Later US mine drainage tunnels included the Argo Tunnel at Idaho Springs, Colorado, the Leadville and Yak tunnels at Leadville, Colorado, and the Roosevelt tunnel in the Cripple Creek district, Colorado.

Gold Hill

Gold Hill is an unincorporated community in Storey County, Nevada, located just south and downhill of Virginia City. Incorporated December 17, 1862, in order to prevent its annexation by its larger neighbor, the town at one point was home to at least 8,000 residents. Prosperity was sustained for a period of 20 years between 1868 and 1888 by mining the Comstock Lode, a major deposit of gold and silver ore. Mines such as the Yellow Jacket, Crown Point, and Belcher brought in over $10 million each in dividends. The Gold Hill post office remained in operation until 1943. Today Gold Hill exists as a shell of its former self; its population in 2005 was 191. It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Historical remnants of the town can still be seen, including the Gold Hill Hotel, promoted as Nevada's oldest hotel, in existence since 1861; the former Bank of California building; the restored Virginia & Truckee Railroad depot; the Depression-Era Crown Point Mill; and remains of several of the mines and residences in various states of restoration and repair. The population of Gold Hill was largely Cornish and was one of their main settlements in the Comstock area. A later mining complex in the area operated from 1927 until 1942, when mining operations were shut down by War Production Board order L-208, shutting down all nonessential gold mines in the United States. Just under a hundred million dollars' worth of ore was extracted after 1930. Active mining has returned to lower Gold Hill, with the start of production at Comstock Mining's Lucerne, Hartford and Billy The Kid mines. In 1976, Bob Gray, a former Marine Corps photographer in World War II and admirer of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad since he was a teenager, bought a section of the abandoned railway line between Virginia City and a point about two miles south. He laid track on that right of way and began operating a steam-powered tourist railroad. The track was extended to Gold Hill in 1992, and in 1994 the Gold Hill Historical Society was established to preserve the Gold Hill depot, one of the few wooden structures in the region that survived the 1875 fire in Virginia City. After ten years of applying for grants, lobbying, and collecting steel rail donations by the Gold Hill Historical Society, the mayor of Carson City approved the letting out to bid of a contract to reconstruct the railroad between Gold Hill and the Carson River, fifteen miles away. Today Gold Hill is a stop on this tourist railroad, which operates historic steam trains attracting thousands of tourists each year. Gold Hill is the birthplace of Marion Jones Farquhar , Olympic bronze medal winner and two-time U.S. Open tennis champion.

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