Nightingale, Nevada Ghost Town

Nightingale was a short-lived mill that became a Nevada ghost town after only ten years. Ruins of the abandoned mill tower over the hillside.

Nightingale Mine was the first stop on a winter day I spent with a group of explorers in the Nightingale Range. Dave, our trail master for the day, led us from Nixon to Nightingale Mine, Alpine Mine, Lake Winnemucca, ending at M.G.L. Mine. The day was long and challenging for me. We encountered steep inclines, slopes covered in mud, boulders, tight passages, and shelf roads with huge drop-offs.

We approached Nightingale from the south, up a steep muddy slope. Unfortunately, silly me didn’t remember to bring my handheld radio that day. As a new Jeeper, I didn’t know using my lockers would have kept me from slipping and sliding over the muddy hill.

Nightingale Mining District

Prospector Alex Ranson discovered ore deposits in the Nightingale Range in 1917. The district is in Pershing County on the northeast boundary of Washoe County. The mountains and mining district was named for Alanson W. Nightingill, a Captain in the 1860s Pyramid Lake War. He became the first Controller of Nevada in 1864.

In 1929 Tungsten Production purchased the mine claims with the company changing their name to the Gold, Silver, & Tungsten Company in 1933. The mine included three adits, four shallow shafts, and multiple open cuts and pits. In addition, many underground workings were later opened through trenches and stopes, a step like excavation within the mine.

Gold, Silver, & Tungsten Company constructed a 100-ton concentrator adjacent to the mines. The mill operated intermittently between 1930 and 1939 but only made a few short runs.

A new lease on life

Rare Metals Corporation purchased Nightingale alone with Alpine and Pershing Mines in 1943. Tungsten was a strategic metal in WWII and, in short supply and mines, including Nightingale, increased tungsten production to assist in the war effort. Most ores shipped to Toulon Mill, thirty miles southeast of the mine.

Wolfram Company operated the mine between 1954 and 1956. Space Metals Incorporated reworked old mine tailings at the Toulon Mill in 1970 and 1971.

Ruins

Nightingale is spread over the hillside and includes foundations of the mill, multiple mine shafts and adits, and a collapsed cabin overlooking the site.

Mill

Cabin

The wood structure was standing until recent years. However, two walls cling to their footings and appear that a slight breeze could topple them over.

Mines and Adits

Abandoned mines are often sealed off or grated, but not always. They are dangerous workplaces that claim the lives of many experienced miners and pose an enduring threat to the curious. They cut through strata, load-bearing formations, toxic mineral deposits, and house numerous hazards from rattlesnakes to unstable explosives and radon. Unlike caves, old mines are unmaintained works of engineering designed solely for extracting ore. They are not recreational sites. (Besides, would you ride a roller coaster that’s had no maintenance for 50 years?)
Stay Out – Stay Alive!

Pretty end to our day

Want more ghost towns?

For information on more than three hundred Nevada and California ghost towns, emigrant trails, and Pony Express Stations, visit Nevada Ghost Towns Map.

Nevada Ghost Towns Map

Visited: 1-16-2021

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References

• Blackrock Desert Organization: Nightingale Mining District
• Forgotten Nevada: Nightingale (Pershing County)
• Gamett, James and Stan Paher.  Nevada Post Offices: An Illustrated History.  Nevada Publications, 1983. Page 98.  
• Lincoln, Francis Church. Mining Districts and Mineral Resources of Nevada. Stanley Paher, 1982. Pages 211-212
• Minedat: Photo gallery: Nightingale Mining District
• Nevada Expeditions: Nightingdale
• Paher, Stanley: Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps. Stan Paher, 1970. Page 113.
• UNR Scholar Works: Guide to Exploration in the Sierra Nevada Tungsten Province
• USGS: Tungsten Deposits of the Nightingale District, Pershing County, Nevada
• Western Mining History: Nightingale Mine
• Wikipedia: Nightingale Mountains

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