Vernon History
Vernon was one of the camps established after the 1905 discovery of gold in the Seven Troughs district. This was initially the primary camp in the district, and in 1907 could be considered a boom town. The April 27th edition of the Nevada State Journal described the excitement here:
Ninety days a go the writer came out of the camp and on leaving counted twenty-one houses, tents and buildings in the town of Vernon; the stage pretended to run three times a week; it was impossible to get supplies for the few people then in the camp; water had to be hauled seven miles by team; there was no coal or wood and sagebrush was the only fuel supply; there was only one property being worked in the Seven Troughs Canyon and three on the south slope near the town of Vernon. But, lo! What a transformation.
Today there are over 200 buildings in Vernon, a bank, telephone exchange, ten saloons and clubs, two livery stables, six restaurants, four hotels, eight lodging houses, four general stores, several real estate offices and brokers galore. And still greater improvement is the water works system with its mains flowing through the streets of Vernon, the metropolis of the Seven Troughs.
Instead of a stage three times a week a daily four-horse stage and mall service runs from Lovelock to Vernon. Automobiles are also making daily trips taking passengers into the camp. Teams hauling supplies can be seen in great numbers taking freight from Lovelock. With its fast increasing population Vernon seems destined to have a population of several thousands in a year or two. "
Newspapers reported plans for two railroad lines into the district and in September of 1907 a mining stock exchange opened at Vernon. The town was the location of the District's hospital.
Additional rich discoveries of gold ore in 1908 sustained the excitement, but by the following year few new discoveries were being made. Although the mines were good producers, they weren't rich enough to justify the expense of building rail lines into the district, and that plan never materialized. The population peaked at just around 300, not the thousands that were predicted by the newspapers.
The mines began to decline after 1910, and so inevitably did the town. The post office, which first opened in 1906, closed in 1918.
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.
