For two months our area was blanketed with smoke from the Caldor, Tamarack and Dixie Fires. We barely saw the sun or mountains and our life was sepia toned. Other then darting from indoor filtered air to indoor filtered air I barely stepped foot outside. Once the smoke lightened I was anxious to go anywhere. The group of Jeepers I went to Tunnel Camp with planned another trip to Humboldt City in Pershing County. I had not researched the town but I jumped at the chance to get out. Humboldt City turned out to be one of the oldest towns in the region and has amazing ruins.

Often I go on trips with a group but alone in my Jeep. With the family home more during Covid, it’s nice to have some time to myself. Driving and listening to music has been my therapy since I was fourteen and a half and had my first car… it’s an Idaho thing. I thought about it for a while but decided what I needed more than alone time was good friends and laughs. I invited Austin of Nevada Expeditions and our friend Shonna to ride in Honey Badger with me. I said we are the Three Amigos and Austin replied we are more like the Three Stooges…he isn’t wrong. Needless to say I was dubbed Curly. We are all different in age and background but united by a love of exploring and history.

We met the Jeep group in Fernley and had a big breakfast at Black Bear Diner. The diner seems to be where I have started a lot of trips lately. After a hearty breakfast we headed towards Lovelock for the last change to gas up, trust me, a group of Jeeps goes through a lot of fuel.

Humboldt City is a treasure not far off I-80. I have driven that stretch of freeway many times and had no idea such an amazing ghost town was a stone’s throw away.

French Trader, Louis Barbeau, discovered silver in Humboldt Canyon in the spring of 1860. The Humboldt Mining District, first in the area, was established the same year. Flush from Comstock Fever, a prospecting party made haste to the new strike. Due to hostilities with the Paiute Tribe and hight cost of living, many left the area in early 1861.

Signing of the first peace treaty in the region in mid 1861 created a rush of miners and further exploration. Over one thousand silver deposits were discovered in the canyon surrounding the town site. Initial surveys estimated the ore valued at $400 – $2700 per ton. Humboldt City was quickly platted in and by August two hundred people were living in the new town. Population was large enough a post office was awarded on April 18, 1862.

The town continued to grow and claimed five hundred residents and two hundred buildings by 1863. The town boasted two fine hotels, stores and two saloons. Homes were well built and occupied by families with children, chickens and pigs in the yards.

…a picturesque and beautiful village containing some 200 well-built houses some of which are handsome edifices, and many beautiful gardens that attest the taste and industry of the inhabitants.

Humboldt Register, May 2, 1863.

Despite the remoteness of Humboldt City, supplies were readily available. In November of 1862 the store had 15,000 pounds of flour, 18,000 pounds of “choice groceries”, enough to last through the winter and into July. Humboldt City was blessed with a long growing season and provided nearby Star City and Santa Clara with fresh produce.

Humbolt City had its cast of characters. Owners of one saloon were always prepared to fight about politics, especially reconstruction and black suffrage but they steered away from religion. Blacksmiths were happy to take a break from the heat of their forge to tell a tall tale.

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Investors looked into options to increase processing of local ore. Sixteen San Franciscans formed a stock company to construct a sixty-one mile ditch connecting the Humboldt River to foot of the canyon. A survey was conducted to move the entire Humboldt River to create a 250 foot fall for milling but this plan never came to fruition.

Atlantic and Pacific Mining Company had extensive prospecting and operations between 1863 and 1864 but production continued to decrease. Following 1864 the the town rapidly declined. A few hardy souls remained in Humboldt City but the post office closed on November 30, 1869 with service transferred to Imlay.

Ruins

Humboldt City has extensive ruins spread through the canyon.

Store

The former store is the largest ruin in Humboldt City. The sidewalls of the store survived along with a smaller enclosed room, possibly living quarters. A stove kept the room warm and it was decorated with wallpaper. A collapsed shaft backs up the store.

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House in the trees

House on the Hill

Piedmont Mill

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End of our road

Our plan was to head over the ridge into another mining area but the road was cut off with active mining. Instead of risking hours of driving to possibly be cut off again, we doubled back through Humboldt City to return to the freeway.

Visited 9-12-2021

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References

• Carlson, Helen S. Nevada Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. University of Nevada Press, 1974. Page 138-139.
• Forgotten Nevada: Humboldt City
• Gamett, James and Stan Paher.  Nevada Post Offices: An Illustrated History.  Nevada Publications, 1983  Page 76.
• Ghost Towns: Humboldt City
• Haunted West: Humboldt City, Nevada
• Lincoln, Francis Church. Mining Districts and Mineral Resources of Nevada.  Stanley Paher, 1982.  Pages 206-7.
• Nevada Expeditions: Humboldt City
• Nevada Magazine. Odyssey of a Ghost Town Explorer. Nevada Magazine, 2020. Pages 156-157.
• Paher, Stanley.  Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps.  Nevada Publications, 1970.  Page 115, 130-133.
• Paher, Stanley.  Nevada Ghost Towns and Desert Atlas.  Nevada Publications, 2009.  Page 34-35.
• Western Mining History: Humboldt County Nevada Gold Production
• Western Mining History: Pershing County Nevada Gold Production
• Wikipedia: Humboldt City, Nevada

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