Tonopah Nevada
Elevation: 6,047 feet
Tonopah is a historic mining town in central Nevada, at the junction of U.S. 6 and U.S. 95, roughly midway between Reno and Las Vegas. It is the county seat of Nye County. The 2020 census counted 2,179 residents in the Tonopah census-designated place.
Known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps," Tonopah was one of the great Nevada mining discoveries of the early twentieth century. Its boom helped pull Nevada out of a long economic slump, brought railroads and investment into the central part of the state, and helped set off the larger Tonopah-Goldfield mining era.
The Butler Discovery
American Indians had used the name Tonopah for a small spring in the nearby San Antonio Mountains before Butler camped in the area in 1900.On May 19, 1900, Jim Butler, then Nye County district attorney as well as a prospector, camped near Tonopah Springs while traveling through the country. The familiar story says that Butler's burro wandered away and that, while looking for it, he noticed promising mineralized rock. Butler took samples back to Belmont.
Tasker Oddie, a young attorney and Butler's friend, helped arrange an assay. The ore proved unusually rich in silver and gold. In August 1900, Jim and Belle Butler returned with associates and located eight claims. Belle Butler named the first three the Desert Queen, Burro, and Mizpah. The Mizpah became one of the district's great producers.
The camp first used names such as Butler and Butler City. The Post Office opened a Butler post office on April 10, 1901, then officially renamed it Tonopah on March 3, 1905.
From Camp to Mining Center
Tonopah grew with astonishing speed. By 1901, miners, merchants, assayers, attorneys, doctors, newspaper men, and saloonkeepers had gathered around the new district. W. W. Booth's Tonopah Bonanza promoted the camp widely.The Tonopah Mining Company eventually consolidated the Butler claims. Other important operators included the Tonopah-Belmont, Tonopah Extension, Montana-Tonopah, and West End companies.
The early camp was expensive and rough. Freight had to be hauled long distances by wagon, water was scarce, and sanitary conditions were poor. In October 1902, the Crystal Water Company piped the first water from a nearby well into Tonopah's commercial district. Electric service followed two months later. Permanent stone, brick, and adobe buildings began to replace tents and temporary frame structures.
In 1905, the Nevada Legislature moved the Nye County seat from Belmont to Tonopah. The courthouse, banks, hotels, theaters, stores, and substantial business blocks reflected the town's new role as the working and financial center of central Nevada mining country.
The Railroads
Rail service changed Tonopah more than any other improvement. Before the railroad, every ton of machinery, timber, coal, food, and mine supplies had to come in by wagon, while ore had to be hauled out the same way.The narrow-gauge Tonopah Railroad was built south from Rhodes, about 60 miles northwest of Tonopah, where it connected with the Carson and Colorado Railroad, then a Southern Pacific branch. Construction began late in 1903, and the first train reached Tonopah in July 1904.
The narrow-gauge line soon proved inadequate. In 1905, the railroad rebuilt it to standard gauge and extended it south to Goldfield as the Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad. By 1907, Tonopah also had rail connections toward Rhyolite and Los Angeles through the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, and toward Las Vegas and Salt Lake City through the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad.
The railroads reduced freight costs, allowed lower-grade ore to be worked profitably, and connected Tonopah to the larger mining and financial world.
Boom, Hardship, and Production
At its height, Tonopah was a genuine desert city, with an estimated population near 10,000. It had hotels, restaurants, gambling halls, churches, schools, newspapers, banks, water and electric utilities, and mines operating day and night on the hills above town.The boom was not without hardship. A severe pneumonia outbreak in early 1905, remembered as the Tonopah Plague, caused many deaths. Fires repeatedly damaged the business district and mining works. The worst mining disaster came on February 23, 1911, when fire in the Belmont Mine killed 17 men.
The Panic of 1907 ended Tonopah's first great building boom and caused a sharp population decline, but mining continued. Production remained strong through the 1910s. By 1921, Tonopah mining had produced about $121 million in precious metals, measured in the dollars of the day. Total historic district production is generally placed at about $150 million.
The principal mines gradually declined during the 1920s and Depression years. A 1939 fire badly damaged the Belmont Mine, and another major fire destroyed the Tonopah Extension mill in 1942. By the end of World War II, most of the old major operations had closed. The Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad ceased operation in 1947, and its rails were removed.
Tonopah Today
Tonopah did not disappear when the mines declined. Its location on the main highway between northern and southern Nevada kept it alive as a county seat, service town, and stopping place for travelers. The nearby military range later became an important part of the area's economy.The old mining district remains one of Tonopah's strongest features. The Tonopah Historic Mining Park preserves portions of authentic mine workings, headframes, trestles, buildings, equipment, and ore-loading structures. Downtown retains many buildings from the boom years, including the Mizpah Hotel, old commercial blocks, homes, and the Nye County Courthouse.
Tonopah's importance consists not only in the silver taken from its hills, but in what the discovery set in motion. It revived Nevada mining, drew attention to the central desert, and helped create the railroad and mining network which shaped the Tonopah, Goldfield, Bullfrog, and Rhyolite country.
Sources and References
National Register nomination: Tonopah Multiple Resource AreaNevada State Historic Preservation Office - Tonopah historical marker
UNLV Libraries - Southern Nevada: The Boomtown Years
U.S. Geological Survey - Tonopah mining district
Robert D. McCracken, A History of Tonopah, Nevada
James W. Carpenter, The History of Fifty Years of Mining in Tonopah, 1900-1950
Timeline
Before 1900The name Tonopah was used by American Indians for a spring in the nearby San Antonio Mountains.
May 19, 1900
Jim Butler discovered promising silver-bearing ore near Tonopah Springs.
August 1900
Jim and Belle Butler and their associates located eight claims, including the Desert Queen, Burro, and Mizpah.
1901
The camp of Butler grew quickly. The Butler post office opened April 10, and the Tonopah Bonanza began publication.
1902
The Butler claims were consolidated into the Tonopah Mining Company. The Tonopah-Belmont Mining Company also formed. Water reached the commercial district in October; electric service followed in December.
Late 1903
Construction began on the narrow-gauge Tonopah Railroad from Rhodes to Tonopah.
July 1904
The first train arrived in Tonopah.
March 3, 1905
The Butler post office was renamed Tonopah.
May 1905
Tonopah replaced Belmont as the Nye County seat.
1905
The Tonopah Railroad was rebuilt to standard gauge, extended to Goldfield, and became the Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad.
1906-1907
Tonopah reached a boom population near 10,000. Rail connections reached toward Rhyolite, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City.
1907
The financial panic ended Tonopah's first great building boom, although major mines continued production.
February 23, 1911
Fire in the Belmont Mine killed 17 men.
1912
The Tonopah-Belmont 500-ton cyanide mill began operation.
1910s
Tonopah's mines remained important producers of silver, gold, copper, and lead.
1921
The district had produced about $121 million in precious metals, measured in period dollars.
1920s-1930s
Mining declined, though several principal companies remained active.
October 31, 1939
A fire badly damaged the Belmont Mine.
October 1942
Fire destroyed the Tonopah Extension mill and much of its remaining operation.
1945
Most of Tonopah's old major mining operations had closed.
1947
The Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad ceased operation and its rails were removed.
Today
Tonopah remains the Nye County seat, a highway service town, and a center for central Nevada mining history.
Downtown Gallery
Las Vegas annd Tonopah Las Vegas
Tonopah & Goldfield Railroad
Carson & Colorado Railroad
Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad
Goldfield
Rhyolite
Tonopah, Nv. - UNLV photo
Main Street, Tonopah - UNLV photo
Ore being loaded at rail depot - UNLV photo
Children outside bottle house - UNLV photo
Clown Motel