Unionville, Nevada
Encyclopedia
Unionville is a small hamlet in Pershing County
, Nevada
, with the most recent population estimate being approximately 20 people. The town's best years were during the 1870s, when it was an active mining and prospecting town serving the surrounding hilly region. For a brief time, Samuel Langhorne Clemens lived there and prospected, but left without having had much success. Currently, the hamlet consists of a single business - a tourist inn - and a few small houses clustered along or near the gravel roadway which permits vehicular ingress and egress. The nearest paved road, an extension of this gravel road, is about 7 miles to the east. The nearest services of any sort, other than those available at the inn, are approximately one hour's drive away.
Now in Pershing County
, Unionville was the original county seat for Humboldt County
, serving in that capacity from its founding in July 1861 until the seat was relocated to Winnemucca in 1873. The big mining boom at Unionville occurred between 1863 and 1870. During that time, the population was reported to be as high as 1,500 persons. As is common in most mining communities, after the boom, the town experienced a decline soon afterwards. By 1870, it was discovered that there was little rich ore in the district. The decline was speeded by the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad through the Humbolt valley, and the establishment of Winnemucca as a major trading and shipping center.
There is now no formal government as such in the hamlet of Unionville, which is unincorporated. Some abandoned buildings such as Twain's cabin and a one-room schoolhouse remain standing in various stages of disrepair, but there is no ongoing, active effort to preserve any of these. Unionville is frequently referred to as a ghost town
. Just north of the town's limits is a cemetery, which may still be used for occasional burials. A few hundred yards farther into the county, there is a fork in the main road. Aerial photographs reveal a large cemented foundation upon which stand two large buildings, along with two or three smaller buildings of relatively recent vintage. Whether any of these structures are in use and what they are, or were, is not identified in any reference source.
Like other mining towns in the American West, Chinese laborers resided in Unionville and mined in the American Canyon. The town's white inhabitants were quick to exhibit virulent anti-Chinese racism. The Democratic party newspaper in town, the Humboldt Register, equated the Chinese to "baboons or trained monkeys." In addition to anti-Chinese racism, a segment of Unionville's population, organized as the Anti-Chinese League, was responsible for forcibly expelling the Chinese population in the middle of January 1869. The Chinese, outnumbered and outgunned, did nothing to resist expulsion, nor did any of the town's religious or fraternal organizations attempt to stop it. The 35 Chinese males that resided in town were put on a wagon and taken twenty-five miles to Mill City, the nearest station on the Central Pacific Railway. No charges were ever filed against the perpetrators that instigated the aggression toward the Chinese residents. This was a significant event which provides an early example of the attitudes of white Nevadans toward the Chinese. Anti-Chinese agitation and forced expulsion emerged in other communities throughout Nevada and the Far West.
The events of 1869 did not permanently dissuade some Chinese from remaining in the county. After Unionville declined as a white mining center, scattered Chinese returned to mine the surrounding environs. Because water was at premium in the area, Chinese miners used rockers rather than sluices at their sites. As late as 1905 there were still Chinese miners that continued to work in the American Canyon, but by that time they were quite elderly and numbered fewer than ten.
Pershing County, Nevada
Pershing County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2000 census, the population was 6,693. Its county seat is Lovelock. The county was named after army general John J. Pershing . It was formed from Humboldt County in 1919, and the last county to be established in...
, 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...
, with the most recent population estimate being approximately 20 people. The town's best years were during the 1870s, when it was an active mining and prospecting town serving the surrounding hilly region. For a brief time, Samuel Langhorne Clemens lived there and prospected, but left without having had much success. Currently, the hamlet consists of a single business - a tourist inn - and a few small houses clustered along or near the gravel roadway which permits vehicular ingress and egress. The nearest paved road, an extension of this gravel road, is about 7 miles to the east. The nearest services of any sort, other than those available at the inn, are approximately one hour's drive away.
Now in Pershing County
Pershing County, Nevada
Pershing County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2000 census, the population was 6,693. Its county seat is Lovelock. The county was named after army general John J. Pershing . It was formed from Humboldt County in 1919, and the last county to be established in...
, Unionville was the original county seat for Humboldt County
Humboldt County, Nevada
Humboldt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of 2007, the population was estimated to be 18,052. Its county seat is Winnemucca.The county was the site of an arrest in 2000 that led to the U.S. Supreme Court decision Hiibel v...
, serving in that capacity from its founding in July 1861 until the seat was relocated to Winnemucca in 1873. The big mining boom at Unionville occurred between 1863 and 1870. During that time, the population was reported to be as high as 1,500 persons. As is common in most mining communities, after the boom, the town experienced a decline soon afterwards. By 1870, it was discovered that there was little rich ore in the district. The decline was speeded by the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad through the Humbolt valley, and the establishment of Winnemucca as a major trading and shipping center.
There is now no formal government as such in the hamlet of Unionville, which is unincorporated. Some abandoned buildings such as Twain's cabin and a one-room schoolhouse remain standing in various stages of disrepair, but there is no ongoing, active effort to preserve any of these. Unionville is frequently referred to as a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
. Just north of the town's limits is a cemetery, which may still be used for occasional burials. A few hundred yards farther into the county, there is a fork in the main road. Aerial photographs reveal a large cemented foundation upon which stand two large buildings, along with two or three smaller buildings of relatively recent vintage. Whether any of these structures are in use and what they are, or were, is not identified in any reference source.
Ethnic Diversity in Unionville
Paul Laveaga, one of Unionville's more prominent citizens, was born in Mexico in 1841. He was the only member of his family to leave Mexico for Nevada. When he came to state in 1866, he worked for wages and mined in Unionville. In 1868, Laveaga opened up a lodging house and restaurant which he ran until 1884 when he left for Winnemucca. In addition, he served as post master in Unionville for many years. Laveaga was a successful businessman and well-respected by his fellow citizens. In 1874, he was elected to the state assembly where he served four terms. Laveaga also served as the Humbolt county treasurer for eight years. Although he would eventually leave Unionville for the more prominent town of Winnemucca, Laveaga's success in the state of Nevada stemmed from his intial settlement in Unionville.Like other mining towns in the American West, Chinese laborers resided in Unionville and mined in the American Canyon. The town's white inhabitants were quick to exhibit virulent anti-Chinese racism. The Democratic party newspaper in town, the Humboldt Register, equated the Chinese to "baboons or trained monkeys." In addition to anti-Chinese racism, a segment of Unionville's population, organized as the Anti-Chinese League, was responsible for forcibly expelling the Chinese population in the middle of January 1869. The Chinese, outnumbered and outgunned, did nothing to resist expulsion, nor did any of the town's religious or fraternal organizations attempt to stop it. The 35 Chinese males that resided in town were put on a wagon and taken twenty-five miles to Mill City, the nearest station on the Central Pacific Railway. No charges were ever filed against the perpetrators that instigated the aggression toward the Chinese residents. This was a significant event which provides an early example of the attitudes of white Nevadans toward the Chinese. Anti-Chinese agitation and forced expulsion emerged in other communities throughout Nevada and the Far West.
The events of 1869 did not permanently dissuade some Chinese from remaining in the county. After Unionville declined as a white mining center, scattered Chinese returned to mine the surrounding environs. Because water was at premium in the area, Chinese miners used rockers rather than sluices at their sites. As late as 1905 there were still Chinese miners that continued to work in the American Canyon, but by that time they were quite elderly and numbered fewer than ten.
External links
- GhostTowns.com Unionville page
- Signatures of Samuel Clemens - Mark Twain & Unionville gold discoverer on 1863 territorial stock
- Unionville, Nevada Historical Marker 145
- Unionville photo gallery at FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
