La Plata, Nevada

La Plata is a popular ghost town for day-trippers in northern Nevada. Its proximity to Fallon makes it easy to reach and rewards travelers with substantial ruins to explore. Established in the early 1860s, La Plata soon became the Churchill County seat, the first county seat located within the county. The burgeoning town thrived for several years. However, mines soon played out, residents moved to the next big strike, and La Plata became a ghost town.

As La Plata had buildings with stone construction, many foundations remain, including cabins and “The Courthouse.”

The Silver Rush

Ten years after the Gold Rush to California began in 1849, the gold fields played out. Prospectors discovered silver in Nevada in 1859 and the flow of miners over the Sierras reversed its course. Prospectors who once rushed through Nevada now headed east in the Silver Rush. Silver had replaced gold as the stuff of legend.

Miners quickly staked claims in the famous Comstock Lode, and prospectors began to explore outlying locations. In 1862 silver was discovered on the east side of the Stillwater Range and the Mountain Wells Mining District was formed. Promising quartz was discovered at the junction of La Plata and Silver Wave Canyons and a townsite was established the following year. The new town was named La Plata, Spanish for silver.

Investors from the east funded widespread prospecting and development of mines around La Plata. Silver Wave Mining Company owned the townsite and 1500 adjacent wooded acres. They constructed a sizeable ten-stamp mill in 1864 at $150,000, over $2M in 2021.

The silver town

La Plata grew rapidly and became the largest town in the county, containing multiple businesses. I am making an educated guess; numerous saloons existed and likely predated other businesses. The burgeoning town became the second county seat of Churchill County in 1864, the first seat located within the county as the prior seat, Buckland’s Station, was located in adjacent Lyon County. On April 13, 1865, a post office opened.

Similar to other strikes in the area, including Como, milling and processing facilities were erected before determining the extent of the strike and ore requiring processing.

…another illustration of the folloy (sic) of erecting reductions works before mines which are to supply the ores have been thoroughly prospected and proved of value

Report of the State Mineralologist for 1866, published 1867

Mines failed in 1867 and many residents moved to the next big strikes in White Pine and Nye County. The ten-stamp mill was moved to Ellsworth, Nye County. Ore was shipped to Eleven Mile Canyon and Averill but production was minimal.

The post office closed on November 25, 1867 and Stillwater replaced La Plata as the county seat in 1868. A small revival briefly occurred in 1906 but La Plata was to remain a ghost town.

La Plata Ghost Town

Several structures survived the test of time. Some call the largest the “Courthouse,” but a dedicated courthouse was never constructed, possibly due to construction costs or the brief four-year tenure as Churchill county seat. Rock foundations and structures were common in much of Nevada due to the shortage of lumber and the plethora of rock. This building was of higher quality construction; note the cut cornerstones versus stacked.

A second foundation corner is behind the large rock structure. The stones are stacked versus cut.

A cabin is situated north of the structures. Unlike many cabins I have seen, this one has the fireplace hearth and chimney remaining. This was my first time climbing into a fireplace…this year.

I would have never done this during warm weather, also known as Rattlesnake Season. I was clearing the chimney when Austin reminded me moving a rock above my head in a 150-year-old chimney wasn’t the brightest idea ever.

Ghost Towning

I visited La Plata with friends Shonna and Austin from Nevada Expeditions, my go-to reference for all things Churchill County. I hadn’t had that much fun in a long time; I laughed so hard my abs hurt!

We started at Stillwater school, followed the Pony Express route to Mountain Well Pony Express Station then over the Stillwaters to La Plata and Averill. We drove a pole line, similar to the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland, up through Dixie Valley. I lost track of how often I hit a wash and said, “S**t, sorry about that!” I’m unsure if I was apologizing to my friends or Honey Badger. 

Want more ghost towns?

For information on more than five hundred ghost towns in Nevada & California, visit the Nevada Ghost Towns Map or a list of Nevada ghost towns.

---

References

• Forgotten Nevada: La Plata
• Gamett, James and Stan Paher. Nevada Post Offices: An Illustrated History. Nevada Publications, 1863. Page 84.
• Lincoln, Francis Church. Mining Districts and Mineral Resources of Nevada. Stanley Paher, 1982. Pages 8-10.
• National Park Service: The California Gold Rush
• Nevada Expeditions: La Plata
• Paher, Stanley. Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps. Nevada Publications, 1970. Page 89, 94, 95.
• Paher, Stanley. Nevada Ghost Towns and Desert Atlas. Nevada Publications, 2009. Pages 24-25.
• Vanderburg, William. Mines of Churchill and Mineral Counties. Nevada Publications, 1988. Page 39-40.
• Western Mining History: Churchill County Nevada Gold Production
• Western Mining History: La Plata Project
• Western Mining History: La Plata Claim Group
• Wikipedia: Churchill County Nevada
• Wordhippo: La Plata

Follow me on social media:

• 
• 
• 
•