Wedekind City and Auburn

Piano tuner George Wedekind spent his weekends prospecting the hills outside of Sparks. In 1896, he discovered “yellow rock” near James Sullivan Ranch. He did not want to invest money, so he sent the sample to Cortez, where they would assay it for free. The assay reported the silver valued at $600 to $1200 per ton.

By 1901, prospectors sunk 50 shafts around his claim. A small camp named Bryan City was formed, including a store, machine shop, assay office, and boarding house. A post office opened in 1902 with the name Wedenkind. Developers laid out streets and built comfortable homes. Soon, Wedekind had thirty buildings. A telephone connected the new town to Reno, and most homes had electricity, and there was hope an electric railway would soon arrive.

Wedekind profited $100,000 before selling his claims to John Sparks, later Governor of Nevada, for $175,000 in 1901. Sparks built a 30-ton mill and made only a few shipments due to excessive loss in milling. At a depth of 230 feet, miners struck hot acidic water and poisonous gas, ending mining at Wedekind. The post office closed in 1905.

Other than the street name, little remains of Wedekind. Behind modern houses are foundations, possibly of the mill.

Auburn

In 1865, a 20-stamp mill started north of Truckee Meadows. A small town grew by the mill, but Reno became the main population center within a few years. The mill operated periodically into the 1880s.

The site of Auburn has been taken over by modern housing.

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