Virginia City, Nevada
Encyclopedia
Virginia City is a census-designated place
(CDP) that is the county seat
of Storey County, Nevada
. It is part of the Reno
–Sparks
Metropolitan Statistical Area
. The population was 855 at the 2010 Census.
Virginia City is one of the oldest established communities in Nevada. Folklore indicates that the town got its name from a man named James Finney who was nicknamed "Old Virginy". Finney was credited with discovering the Comstock Lode. His real name was James Fennimore, and he had fled his home state of Virginia after killing a man.
Like many cities and towns in the state, Virginia City was a mining
boomtown
; it appeared virtually overnight as a result of the Comstock Lode
silver
strike of 1859.
During its peak, Virginia City had a population of over 30,000 residents and was called the richest city in America. During the 20 years following the Comstock success "about $400 million was taken out of the ground."
When the Comstock Lode ended in 1898, the city's population declined sharply. Most of the miners who came to the city were Cornish
or Irish
.
Mining operations were hindered due to extreme temperatures in the mines caused by natural hot springs. The miners would snowshoe to work and then descend into the high temperatures. This contributed to a low life expectancy. Adolph Sutro
built the Sutro Tunnel
in support of the mining operations. The tunnel drained the water to the valley below (Carson City). Conceived in 1860, it was not completed until many years later, after much of the silver had been mined. From its creation in 1859 to 1875, there were five widespread fires. The 1875 fire, dubbed the Great Fire of 1875, caused $12 million in damages.
, as it was here in February 1863 that writer Samuel Clemens, then a reporter on the local Territorial Enterprise
newspaper, first used his famous pen name
. Virginia City historical documents state that Clemens was mugged on November 10, 1863, as he walked over the hill from the south while returning to Virginia City. The muggers relieved Clemens of his watch and his money. The robbery turns out to have been a practical joke played on Clemens by his friends, to give him material to write about. He did not appreciate the joke, but did retrieve his belongings - especially his gold watch (worth $300) and which had great sentimental value as well. Clemens mentioned the incident in his book Roughing It, (published Feb 1872) – and was still sore about it.
in 1961. This in effect created a Virginia City Historic District.
Today Virginia City draws over 2 million visitors per year. It is the nation's largest National Historic Landmark
and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
, and through Gold Hill
. The project ran the first steam engine from Carson City on September 5, 2009. Meanwhile, other trains are pulled by historic locomotives between Virginia City and Gold Hill, attracting thousands of tourists each year.
Club of America Pacific Region and the Northern California Shelby
Club. Originally the event was put on by the SCCA and took the same route. Highway 342 is now the return route for cars that have completed their runs up Highway 341. The hillclimb covers 5.2 miles (8.4 km), climbing 1260 feet (384 m) and passing through 21 corners.
"Darcy Farrow", a folk song written by Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell
, mentions Virginia City and other places and landmarks in the area (including Yerington, the Carson Valley, and the Truckee River
). The most popular version was performed by John Denver
.
The Red Dog Saloon was where the likes of Janis Joplin
, Big Brother and the Holding Company
, The Charlatans and other era musicians got their starts in the 1960s.
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) that is the 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 Storey County, Nevada
Storey County, Nevada
Storey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2000 census, the population was 3,399, which was estimated to have risen to 4,110 in 2006...
. It is part of the Reno
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
–Sparks
Sparks, Nevada
Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States, located east of Reno, Nevada. The 2010 U.S. Census Bureau population count was 90,264. Sparks is often referred to as half of a twin city .-Geography and Climate:...
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Reno-Sparks metropolitan area
The Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in western Nevada, anchored by the cities of Reno and Sparks...
. The population was 855 at the 2010 Census.
History
Like many cities and towns in the state, Virginia City was a mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
boomtown
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...
; it appeared virtually overnight as a result of the Comstock Lode
Comstock Lode
The Comstock Lode was the first major U.S. discovery of silver ore, located under what is now Virginia City, Nevada, on the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range. After the discovery was made public in 1859, prospectors rushed to the area and scrambled to stake their claims...
silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
strike of 1859.
When the Comstock Lode ended in 1898, the city's population declined sharply. Most of the miners who came to the city were Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
or Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
.
Mining operations were hindered due to extreme temperatures in the mines caused by natural hot springs. The miners would snowshoe to work and then descend into the high temperatures. This contributed to a low life expectancy. Adolph Sutro
Adolph Sutro
Adolph Heinrich Joseph Sutro was the 24th mayor of San Francisco, and second Jewish mayor, serving in that office from 1894 until 1896...
built the Sutro Tunnel
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 the town of Dayton, Nevada....
in support of the mining operations. The tunnel drained the water to the valley below (Carson City). Conceived in 1860, it was not completed until many years later, after much of the silver had been mined. From its creation in 1859 to 1875, there were five widespread fires. The 1875 fire, dubbed the Great Fire of 1875, caused $12 million in damages.
Virginia City and Mark Twain
Virginia City could be considered the "birthplace" of Mark TwainMark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, as it was here in February 1863 that writer Samuel Clemens, then a reporter on the local Territorial Enterprise
Territorial Enterprise
The Territorial Enterprise, founded by William Jernegan and Alfred James on December 18, 1858, was a newspaper published in Virginia City, Nevada. The paper was published for its first two years in Genoa and moved to Virginia City in 1860....
newspaper, first used his famous pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
. Virginia City historical documents state that Clemens was mugged on November 10, 1863, as he walked over the hill from the south while returning to Virginia City. The muggers relieved Clemens of his watch and his money. The robbery turns out to have been a practical joke played on Clemens by his friends, to give him material to write about. He did not appreciate the joke, but did retrieve his belongings - especially his gold watch (worth $300) and which had great sentimental value as well. Clemens mentioned the incident in his book Roughing It, (published Feb 1872) – and was still sore about it.
Historic District
Virginia City was declared a National Historic LandmarkNational Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1961. This in effect created a Virginia City Historic District.
Today Virginia City draws over 2 million visitors per year. It is the nation's largest National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Railway
The Virginia & Truckee Railroad's northern terminus is located at Virginia City. A project was started in 1977 to begin rebuilding one of the nations "crookedest railroads." The portion of line that has been rebuilt so far stretches south to Carson City, NevadaCarson City, Nevada
The Consolidated Municipality of Carson City is the capital of the state of Nevada. The words Consolidated Municipality refer to a series of changes in 1969 which abolished Ormsby County and merged all the settlements contained within its borders into Carson City. Since that time Carson City has...
, and through Gold Hill
Gold Hill, Nevada
Gold Hill is a 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...
. The project ran the first steam engine from Carson City on September 5, 2009. Meanwhile, other trains are pulled by historic locomotives between Virginia City and Gold Hill, attracting thousands of tourists each year.
Town life
The population of Virginia City is 1,000 people in the town. 4,000 live in Storey County. It has one elementary school (Hugh Gallagher Elementary School), one middle school (Virginia City Middle School) and one high school (Virginia City High School). Many locals work at the shops in town that cater to tourists, while others seek jobs in the surrounding cities.Virginia City Hillclimb
There is an annual hillclimb that runs from Silver City to Virginia City via Highway 341 (a truck route) that is put on jointly between the FerrariFerrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
Club of America Pacific Region and the Northern California Shelby
Shelby Mustang
The Shelby Mustang is a high performance variant of the Ford Mustang which was built by Shelby American from 1965 through 1970. Following the introduction of the fifth generation Ford Mustang, the Shelby nameplate was revived in 2007 for new high performance versions of the Mustang.- 1965–1966 :The...
Club. Originally the event was put on by the SCCA and took the same route. Highway 342 is now the return route for cars that have completed their runs up Highway 341. The hillclimb covers 5.2 miles (8.4 km), climbing 1260 feet (384 m) and passing through 21 corners.
Attractions
Virginia City is home to several buildings and artifacts that remain from the time it was a boom town. Among them are the Bucket of Blood saloon, the old globe, the Silver Queen, and the suicide table. Occasionally a gunfight is acted out.Notable residents
- John Brayshaw KayeJohn Brayshaw KayeJohn Brayshaw Kaye was an English-born American poet, lawyer and politician.-Life and works:John Brayshaw Kaye was born in Yorkshire, England, June 10, 1841, the fifth child and the fourth son of Abram and Mary Kaye, in a family of fourteen children...
- poet and politician, worked in the town in the 19th century. - Albert Abraham MichelsonAlbert Abraham MichelsonAlbert Abraham Michelson was an American physicist known for his work on the measurement of the speed of light and especially for the Michelson-Morley experiment. In 1907 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics...
- who became the first American to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics (1907) grew up in this rough mining town, where his father was a merchant. - Julia BuletteJulia BuletteJulia Bulette , was an English-born American prostitute and madam in Virginia City, Nevada.After her violent death, she has been described as proprietor of the most elegant and prosperous brothel in the City and various films and books took inspiration of her real or purported biography...
- (1832–1867), English-born prostitute and madam. - Harold A. HenryHarold A. HenryNot to be confused with Harold Harby, Los Angeles City Council member 1943–57.Harold A. Henry was a community newspaper publisher who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1945 and was its president for four terms from 1947 to 1962....
, Los Angeles City Council president, born here - Charles CleggCharles CleggCharles Myron Clegg, Jr. , was an American author, photographer, and railroad historian. Clegg is primarily remembered as the lifelong companion of famed railroad author Lucius Beebe, and was a co-author of many of Beebe's best-known books.Born into an old New England family, Clegg grew up in Rhode...
, an American author, photographer, and railroad historian. - Lucius BeebeLucius BeebeLucius Morris Beebe was an American author, gourmand, photographer, railroad historian, journalist, and syndicated columnist.-Early life and education:...
, an American author, gourmand, photographer, railroad historian, journalist, and syndicated columnist.
In popular culture
- Virginia City is near the site of the fictitious Ponderosa RanchPonderosa RanchThe Ponderosa Ranch was a theme park based on the popular 1960s television western Bonanza which housed the affluent land, timber and livestock-rich Cartwright family. The amusement park operated in Incline Village, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, from 1967 until 2004...
on the Western televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
dramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
BonanzaBonanzaBonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
. As such, the show's characters made visits to the town regularly – or at least to the flat Hollywood backlot townRKO Forty AcresForty Acres was a film studio backlot that belonged to RKO Pictures and later Desilu Productions, located in Culver City, California. Best known as Forty Acres, or "the back forty", it had other names such as "Desilu Culver", the "RKO backlot" and "Pathé 40 Acre Ranch" depending on which studio...
. - It was the locale of the 1940 film Virginia City, set during the Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and starring Errol FlynnErrol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
. - Virginia City und die wahre Geschichte des Wilden Westens, directed by Elmar Bartlmae, is a 2007 German documentary film.
- In 2004, Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin filmed their paranormal investigations at reportedly haunted locations in Virginia City for their 2006 documentaryDocumentaryA documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
Ghost AdventuresGhost AdventuresGhost Adventures is a weekly American paranormal television series that premiered on October 17, 2008 on the Travel Channel. Currently produced by MY-Tupelo Entertainment , the program follows and stars ghost hunters Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin, as they investigate locations that are...
.
"Darcy Farrow", a folk song written by Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell
Tom Campbell
Thomas John "Tom" Campbell is the Dean of Chapman University School of Law, a former five-term Republican United States Congressman from California's 12th and 15th districts, a former professor at Stanford Law School, a former dean of the Haas School of Business, and a former professor of business...
, mentions Virginia City and other places and landmarks in the area (including Yerington, the Carson Valley, and the Truckee River
Truckee River
The Truckee River is a stream in the U.S. states of California and Nevada. The river is about long. Its endorheic drainage basin is about , of which about are in Nevada. The Truckee is the sole outlet of Lake Tahoe and drains part of the high Sierra Nevada, emptying into Pyramid Lake in the Great...
). The most popular version was performed by John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
.
The Red Dog Saloon was where the likes of Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their...
, The Charlatans and other era musicians got their starts in the 1960s.