So Much To Do In Virginia City, Nevada

Silver! The Comstock Lode was discovered in Virginia City in 1859, and the boom was on. It was the first major silver deposit found in the United States. Mines opened and the town grew to a population of around 25,000 ten years later. The growth in this town is what led the state of Nevada to statehood.

It had been a while since we’d ridden a train, so upon our arrival here we decided to take a ride on the diesel-powered Virginia and Truckee Railroad to start our day.

The train was originally built to haul the ore out of the Comstock Lode Mines, as well as other building materials and supplies, and went all the way to Carson City. Now it hauls tourists on a round-trip venture down to Gold Hill, a tiny town where the first of the silver lode was mined.

Our conductor and guide shared names of the mines and some of their stories as we rode.

After riding the train, we wandered along the boardwalk through town.

If for some crazy reason you didn’t find anything of interest to see in Virginia City, you could at least wander into the candy shops and have a treat. Your favorite must be in here somewhere!

Mark Twain had a job as a newspaper reporter in the 1860’s. He wrote about his Nevada years in the book “Roughin’ It”. There is a museum dedicated to his time here, but it is being reconstructed.

Of course, in a town such as Virginia City, there are several mine tours that one could take in while visiting. We wandered into the Ponderosa Saloon, and a tour of Best and Belcher mine is available (for a fee, of course) once you walk straight back past the bar. Who could resist?

This mine was dug for gold, but it was not profitable. Not, that is, until the present-day owners of the Ponderosa realized that this shaft entrance was steps from their saloon. We enjoyed this informative 25 minute tour.

Not that we are saloon hoppers by any means, but down the street at the Silver Queen saloon, we could see a 16 foot Queen made out of 3,261 silver dollars. This lady weighs 210 pounds and the coins are all Virginia City silver. There is a wedding chapel in the Silver Queen too, in case you want to get married after you see her.

I also liked this tribute to Mark Twain inside the saloon. Samuel Clemens used the pen name of Mark Twain for the first time when he lived and worked here.

We visited two other places in Virginia City. The first was St. Mary in the Mountains, Nevada’s oldest Catholic church. The number of Irish immigrants working the mines necessitated its original construction. It outgrew that one and a new building burned down during a huge fire that decimated the town. The church was rebuilt with bricks in 1864.

Our train conductor had touted the museum in its basement, and also the fact that they sell wine down there. We couldn’t figure out what happened to the wine, but the paintings in the wine cellar were splendid. The museum held many ecclesiastical treasures.

Our last stop of the day was at the old schoolhouse, renovated and turned into the Historic Fourth Ward School Museum. It’s painted into the center of the picture above, and shown below as well.

The children of immigrant miners, wealthy mineowners, town professionals, the shopkeepers, and other residents of the town crowded into this school. There were 3,000 children living here in 1875! Here’s all the facts:

This four-story, Victorian-era school building is the last of its type still in existence. Children from young elementary all the way up through high school attended here. One room was set up exactly the way it was back in the day. Yes, that’s Cal in the front row.

Here is the first grade class in the 1890’s. Note that there is only one teacher for all of these kids!

Other school rooms contain displays of Virginia City history. Here is a piece of Comstock ore:

Unexpectedly for us, we spent an entire day visiting this mining town. It is hard to compare mining towns from one to another because they all have their own history, but Virginia City had a lot of stories to tell.

Next time – we head out on a road dubbed “America’s Loneliest”