Austin History
Prior to 1862, central Nevada was a vast and largely unexplored region. Aside from Native Americans, the area's only regular inhabitants were Pony Express riders and employees of the Overland Mail Company.
The first major discovery occurred in May 1862, when William Talcott, a former Pony Express rider and resident of the Reese River Pony Express Station (also known as Jacob's Spring), found a promising quartz vein while cutting wood in Pony Canyon. Samples were sent to Virginia City for assay, where they confirmed the presence of rich silver ore.
News of the discovery spread rapidly, and the Reese River Mining District was organized in July 1862. Hundreds of miners arrived that year, but it was not until January 1863 that the great Reese River silver rush brought thousands of miners and prospectors into the region.
The significance of the Reese River rush extended far beyond Austin. Its rich silver mines attracted thousands of miners and prospectors, many of whom later ventured into the surrounding country, staking tens of thousands of claims, organizing hundreds of new mining districts, and founding dozens of new camps throughout central Nevada.
Two settlements were established during the district's early months: Austin, on the slopes of Pony Canyon, and Clifton, on the flat at the mouth of the canyon. Austin soon emerged as the district's principal town, and by late 1863 Clifton had been largely abandoned. The article "The Reese River Country," published in the 1866 edition of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, described Clifton's decline:
...Clifton was the father of Austin, and died a sudden death about two years ago. All that remains of it now is a broad street flanked by the wrecks of many frame shanties… It is said of the citizens of Clifton that they were blind to their own interests when they started the city. With florid imaginations in reference to the future, they established florid prices for town-lots, and thus drove honest miners higher up the canon.
The nucleus of a new town called Austin was formed; but the way to get to it was hard-like the way of the transgressor-and the Cliftonites chuckled much, believing they had the thing in their own hands; when lo! the Austinites suddenly went to work and built a magnificent grade, and down went Clifton, as if stricken by the fist of a mighty pugilist, with a cloud of mourning around its eye!
Although Austin lay in a remote part of Nevada, its location on the transcontinental overland route made it one of the most accessible mining camps of the era, accelerating the district's development. One newspaper described the cost and travel time to the Reese River district:
For the benefit of those wishing to visit this region, I will give the rates of fare by stage; From Sacramento to Virginia City, $28; from Virginia City, via Dayton, to Reese River Station, $35; from Reese River Station to Clifton, $1.50. Time — From Sacramento to Virginia, 30 hours; from Virginia or Dayton to Reese River Station, 40 hours. Meals — $1 each.
Another newspaper noted that the "Roads from Placerville (California) to this place are unprecedentedly good." Austin soon became an important stop on the transcontinental route, serving emigrant trains, overland stage lines, and freight wagons carrying supplies both to the Reese River mines and across Nevada.
By the summer of 1863, thousands of claims had been staked in Pony Canyon, and Austin had grown into a tent city of more than 2,000 residents. Businesses were established almost overnight to serve the influx of miners. By the end of the year, Austin had bakeries, barber shops, breweries, a hotel, and a weekly newspaper, the Reveille. Four stamp mills had also been completed.
Austin was incorporated in January 1864. Later that year the city organized both a police force and a fire department. As the community matured, substantial brick buildings replaced many of the original structures, schools were established, gas works illuminated the streets, and the Reveille became a daily newspaper.
The White Pine excitement of 1869 drew many miners and prospectors away from Austin, causing a brief decline. By 1871, however, the Reese River district had settled into a period of steady production that sustained the town's prosperity for more than a decade. In 1880 the Nevada Central Railroad completed a line from Battle Mountain on the transcontinental railroad to Austin.
Production from the district's principal mines began to decline during the early 1880s, and by 1887 most of the major operations had closed. Nearly $20 million in silver had been produced by that time. Later attempts to revive the district, along with continued mining by smaller operators for both gold and silver, increased total production to approximately $28 million, based on late-1960s metal prices.
Today Austin is considered a "living ghost town," retaining many of the buildings and character of one of Nevada's earliest silver boom towns. Just outside town stands Stokes Castle, an unusual three-story stone tower built in 1897 by Anson Phelps Stokes, a wealthy eastern investor with financial interests in several local mines. The structure was occupied for only about a month before being abandoned and eventually falling into disrepair.
Nevada Mining Photos
A Collection of Nevada Mining Photos contains numerous examples of Nevada's best historic mining scenes.
Nevada Gold
Nevada has a total of 368 distinct gold districts. Of the of those, just 36 are major producers with production and/or reserves of over 1,000,000 ounces, 49 have production and/or reserves of over 100,000 ounces, with the rest having less than 100,000 ounces. Read more: Gold Districts of Nevada.
