Ely is the largest city and county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of White Pine County

White Pine County, Nevada

White Pine County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. Its population at the 2010 census was 10,030. Its county seat is Ely. It is the home of Great Basin National Park...

, Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Ely was founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express and Central Overland Route

Central Overland Route

The Central Overland Route was a transportation route from Salt Lake City, Utah south of the Great Salt Lake through the mountains of central Nevada and the Basin and Range Province to Carson City, Nevada...

. Ely's mining boom came later than the other towns along US 50

U.S. Route 50 in Nevada

U.S. Route 50 is a transcontinental highway in the United States, stretching from Sacramento, California in the west to Ocean City, Maryland on the east coast. The Nevada portion crosses the center of state and was named The Loneliest Road in America by Life magazine in July 1986...

, with the discovery of copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 in 1906. Though the railroads connecting the First Transcontinental Railroad

First Transcontinental Railroad

The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...

 to the mines in Austin and Eureka have long been removed, the railroad to Ely is preserved as a heritage railway

Heritage railway

thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...

 by the Nevada Northern Railway

Nevada Northern Railway

The Nevada Northern Railway was a railroad in the U.S. state of Nevada, built primarily to provide rail access to a major copper producing area in White Pine County, Nevada...

 and known as the Ghost Train of Old Ely.