Instead of heading up 95, we detoured through Silver Peak. We had to make a quick stop at one of my favorite ghost towns, Nivloc. Somehow, I missed Blair on a previous trip; it has been high on my list to visit since.
Nivloc
Pittsburgh Silver Peak Gold M. Company, owned by Mr. Colvin of Chicago, a millionaire broker, purchased multiple claims around Silver Peak in 1906. The following year Tom Risherman, a member of the Shoshone Tribe, discovered ore south of Silver Peak. Tom reversed the letters of Colvin’s name to create the town name of Nivloc.
Stan Paher, the Godfather of Nevada ghost towns, describes the settlement as a “one-saloon camp.” The lack of multiple saloons says a lot, as in many mining camps, saloons almost outnumbered miners.
A 100-stamp cyanide mill was constructed at Blair, twenty-three miles north of Nivloc to process ore in the Silver Peak Mining District. The mill added 20 stamps, making the Blair mill the largest stamp mill and producer of low-grade ore in Nevada. In 1907, the company extended the Tonopah & Goldfield Rail Road rail lines 17.5 miles from Nivloc to Blair.
Sadly, one house is gone, seemingly washed away in a ravine.
Learn more about Nivloc.
Silver Peak
Silver Peak, one of Nevada’s earliest mining settlements, started in 1864. Initially searching for salt to use in the milling process, prospectors discovered deposits of gold and silver. In 1865, a 10-stamp mill started operations and a small settlement formed. Multiple owners and mills operated through the years. Silver Peak is still a small community primarily dependent on lithium production.
Blair
In 1906, the Pittsburg-Silver Peak Gold Mining Company purchased multiple mines around Silver Peak. The prices in Silver Peak were exorbitant, so the company laid out the town of Blair several mines to the north. Seven hundred called Blair home and town included stores, saloons and boarding houses.
They built a 100-stamp mill. The Silver Peak Railroad transported ore to the Tonopah & Goldfield Railroad at Blair Junction. With decreasing profits, Blair was abandoned by 1916.
Blair Junction
The small town of Blair Junction formed at the intersection of the Tonopah & Goldfield and the Silver Peak railways. In 1910 fire destroyed the depot which was rebuilt. With the call of mining at Silver Peak, the Silver Peak railway closed.
Blair Junction remained a shipping point for the region’s mines and wood lots. A post office opened in 1920 and soon the town had a school and store. The station was active until 1947 when the Tonopah and Goldfield ceased operations.
Rawhide Jail
I visited the site of Rawhide this fall; sadly, aside from the cemetery, it is now an open pit. Before they obliterated the town, the jail was relocated to Hawthorne.
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