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Shawn Hall's
Welcome to Shawn Hall's Nevada Ghost Town website. The purpose of this site is to provide the active ghosttowner, historians, and arm-chair enthusiast an opportunity to enjoy the many wonderous ghost towns that Nevada has to offer. The main page of the website features a profile of a new ghost town every couple of months. These profiles provide a detailed history, summary of current remains, and when available, photographs. Some places included aren't necessarily ghost towns but fit the accepted description of a ghost town presented by legendary ghosttowner Lambert Florin: "A shadowy semblance of a former self."
Each county has its own ghost town listing. These listings are alphabetical and contain a quick history and what remnants are left. There are more than 2700 photos currently on the site. All of these photos are copyrighted. Please enjoy them but any use without my written consent is strictly prohibited. More detailed histories of individual towns are available in my books on Elko, Eureka, Lander, Nye, and White Pine Counties.
Please feel free to bookmark this page and visit often. All comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Any additions are always welcome! If you notice omissions or have some photos for listed sites that don't have any, please feel free to let me know and I will make the additions with full credit given to you! Another new addition is a "Ghost Towner Photo Page." This is just for fun and anyone who has "people" photos at ghost towns, please send them to me and I'll put them on the page.
As a final note, please respect remains at any ghost town you might visit. These are valuable remembrances of a bygone era that once gone, can never be replaced. Please only take photographs and do not destroy what little remains. These sites are our heritage and must be respected so future generations can also enjoy visiting the ghostly remains of the Old West.
Author's Note (7/1/06): I must apologize for the slowness of updates and additions. Finding time to go and visit more ghost towns and historic sites has been extremely limited during the past couple of years due to family and work obligations. I greatly appreciate all the positive emails and letters I get concerning this site and hope to be able to get out more so I can provide you more on this website!
Over 2700 Photos now on this site!
New Photos Added 7/1/06
Past trips, 2005-6
Nye County: Arrowhead (15), Eden Creek (16), Hannapah (8), Longstreet (4), Oasis Ranch (3), Reveille Mill (12)
Esmeralda County: Cuprite (7). Gold Hitt (18)
Mineral County: Marietta (15), Moho (16)
New Photos Added - Day Trip 7/3/06
Nye County: Eden Creek (24), New Reveille (23), Reveille (18)
New Photos Added - Day Trip 7/15/06
Nye County: Bellehelen (17), Breen Ranch (2), Clifford (11), Golden Arrow (7), Longstreet Ranch/Haws Canyon (3), Silver Bow (15), Wheaton (3)
New Photos Added - 8/16/06
Mineral County: Aurora (24), Magnum (12), Montelle (16)
New Photos Added - Day Trip 8/20/06
Nye County: Hot Creek (2), Kiln Canyon (9), Morey (40), Sawmill (10), Six Mile Canyon (6), Summit Station (1)
New Photos Added - 11/3/06
Churchill County: Chalk Mountain (3), Cold Springs (5), Hercules (6), Westgate (1), Westgate Mill (8), Wonder (8) Lyon County: Pine Grove (37), Rockland (22), Cambridge (9) Mineral County: Northern Lights (10), Sunny Slope (12)
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DIVIDE
(Divide City)(Gold Mountain)(Sigold)
Gold deposits were discovered at Gold Mountain, just south of Tonopah, on September 8, 1901 by C. Runge and Richard Roschl (sometimes referred to as Rochelle). In 1902, the Tonopah Gold Mountain Mining Company bought the claims. Jim Butler, founder of Tonopah was company president. However, not much more than leasing activity took place for the next 10 years. In 1910, George Wingfield and H.C. Brougher formed the Tonopah Divide Mining Company and gained control of the old claims. The first serious mining in the district began.
A small camp, Gold Mountain, developed on the west side of Gold Mountain, which contained a number of saloons and a general store. Population was steady at around 50 and most were the miners for the Tonopah Divide company. The close proximity to Tonopah, only a few miles away, kept the camp from becoming a bona-fide town. During 1916, a new camp began to develop on the east side of the mountain and was called Divide City. Being in the wind shield of the mountain, Divide quickly attracted the remaining residents of Gold Mountain, which emptied rapidly. Brougher had a new strike in April 1917 which started a boom in the district.
Divide City soon had a hotel, lumberyard and a number of saloons and stores. Electricity arrived at the Tonopah Divide mine in September 1918. An official townsite was laid out with inside lots costing $100 and corner lots $250. One hundred lots were sold very quickly and a 35-room hotel was built. The townsite was owned by John Miller, Zeb Kendall and Clyde Johnson. A newspaper, the Divide City Times, began publication on March 29 primarily as a promotional tool for the townsite owners. Frank Garside, owner and publisher of the Tonopah Times, ran the paper. A subscription cost $3.50 a year. After the name Divide was rejected by the postal service, a post office named Sigold opened on August 8 in the Divide Mercantile store. Harold Drew served as postmaster. Water for the booming camp was hauled in from Tonopah.
The mining frenzy that developed during 1919 was incredible with more than 350 mining companies being formed. However, many were paper companies and stock scams. Out of all these companies, only twelve ever actually produced any ore. Those companies were: Belcher Extension Divide (A. Walz, president), Brougher Divide (E.B. Brougher), Divide Extension (Zeb Kendall), Gold Zone Divide (W. Farman), Tonopah Hasbrouck (A.A. Busey), New Alto Divide (J. Mayer), New Sutherland Divide (C.R. Evans), Tonopah Dividend (E.P. Cullinan), Florence Divide, Golden State Divide, Knox Divide and Tonopah Divide.
However, the expiration of the Pittman Silver Act in 1920 virtually stopped all mining and Divide City died a quick death. Its population dropped from a peak of 440 in early 1920 to only about 25 by summer. The post office closed on May 15 but by that time, all the businesses had closed and once again, the only residents were the miners at the only active mine, the Tonopah Divide.
The Tonopah Divide was a solid producer until the late 1940s. The peak year was 1922 when $552,000 was mined. The company produced 2.8 million out of the 4.2 million mined from the district. After the Tonopah Divide company stopped active mining, it leased its property to a series of leasers but after 1950, there wasn’t any production until the Falcon Explorations Company began working the mine in 1980. A work force of 40 was employed in re-opening the mine. However, efforts ceased in a couple of years. Beginning in 1992, the Corona Gold Company leased the mine from the still existing Tonopah Divide Mining Company. Today, there still is exploration taking place and the mine is private property and off-limits.
The Divide district is an interesting place to explore. Unfortunately, as late as the 1980s, there were a number of head frames remaining but they fell victim to destructive teenagers who burned them one by one. None are left today. There are numerous mines around the area but not much remains but the dumps. At the two townsites, there aren’t any buildings left, only foundations and rubble mark the sites.
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