The Ignominious Story Behind Virginia City's Loring Cut

Virginia City's Loring Cut

   While much of Virginia City’s 19TH and early 20th century mining activity was underground, one of the most ambitious efforts to extract previous minerals from the region using open pit mine techniques was attempted in the early 1930s by mining engineer William J. Loring.

   In 1933, Loring partnered with a California mining syndicate to lease a half-mile of once-productive Comstock Lode property that included the workings of the Chollar, Potosi, Savage and Hale & Norcross mines. Their plan was to recover enough low-grade ore near the surface to make the endeavor financially successful.

   For some context, this all happened at a time when mining experts believed that silver and gold ore was still to be found in Virginia City, especially if newer mining technologies were employed.

   The Loring group decided to use a relatively new concept, flotation, which involved crushing ore and using wetting agents (such as cyanide) to separate and concentrate the mineral content, which could then be extracted. The process is similar to how open pit mines operate even today.

   Initially, the syndicate planned to mine underground, as had traditionally been done on the Comstock. The restarting of mining in the region was lauded in local newspapers as the beginning of a “new era” on the Comstock.

   But after about 16 months, the group found that mining underground did not produce sufficient ore and decided to develop a large open pit mine. By May 1934, massive amounts of dirt and rock were being crushed and a large hole began to take shape at the south end of Virginia City, across from the Fourth Ward School.

   Despite the increased amount of earth-moving, the whole operation did not prove as profitable as Loring, who was in charge of the effort, had previously promised. Additionally, the primary mining company backing the project became embroiled in a stock scandal so money began to dry up.

   Loring also faced a third challenge—the pit, carved into the side of Mt. Davidson, suffered several large landslides that carried both ore and waste into the pit, meaning it became increasingly expensive to once again separate out the valuable dirt from the waste dirt.

   By 1937, Loring’s mining effort was losing vast amounts of money and, on June 1, 1938, the company ceased operations. After kicking about Virginia City for a number of years, the broke and disappointed Loring ended up living in Tonopah, where he died in 1952 at the age of 84.

   As for what became known as the Loring Cut or Loring Pit, it passed through several owners during the next several decades without anyone actually working the mine. In the 1970s and early 1980s, it was revived as an open pit mining operation by the United Mining Corporation (UMC) but did not prove productive.

   In the 2015 “Mining Journal History,” historian Ron Limbaugh wrote that the chief geologist for UMC estimated that some 419,000 tons of low-grade ore remained on the surface of the site in the dumps, tailings and the pit itself. Since that time, however, according to Limbaugh, “anything resembling ore has been buried by landslides and reclamation efforts.”

   Today, visitors to the historic Fourth Ward School often wander across the street (after looking both ways!) to a make-shift wooden platform filled with old mining equipment, an English telephone booth, and a rusted truck to look out into the cut. Adjacent is a 300-foot deep mining ventilation shaft (with a sturdy metal covering to keep onlookers from falling in) that was apparently dug in 1970. A wooden plaque explains the story of the ventilation shaft but makes no mention of Loring’s folly.

Old Dayton Schoolhouse Continues to Educate Visitors

 

   It’s perhaps appropriate that the place that once educated the historic mining town of Dayton’s young people—the old Schoolhouse, built in 1865—continues to play a similar role in educating visitors about the community’s history as the Dayton Museum.

   The museum, which opened in 1991, contains display describing Dayton’s origins and a number of the “firsts” believed to have occurred in the community. For example, some history books claim Dayton was the site of the state’s first marriage and first dance.

   Of course, Dayton is arguably Nevada’s earliest settlement and traces its roots to the late 1840s, when gold was discovered in adjacent Gold Canyon. A small group of miners began working the canyon, including James “Old Virginny” Finney, namesake for Virginia City (he’s buried in the Dayton cemetery).

   In addition to hosting prospectors, Dayton soon became an important stop on the Emigrant Trail for travelers heading to California. This traffic, in fact, was the impetus for the opening of an early Nevada trading post, known as Hall’s Station, after owner Spafford Hall. It was one of the first businesses established in the area.

   In 1861, the settlement officially became known as Dayton, after surveyor John Day, who plated the community.

   Among its residents in those days was a fairly large population of Chinese, who were brought to the region to build a two-mile water ditch from the mouth of the Carson River Canyon to Gold Canyon. The Chinese also reworked placer gold tailings left behind by other miners.

   The museum also has a display describing the Pony Express, which passed through Dayton during its days of operation in 1860-61, and a collection of Chinese artifacts left behind by those early inhabitants.

   One display case contains a variety of 19th century measuring devices including household scales, a drug store box scale and a merchant scale while another exhibits the Bertha Scott clothing collection, a nice assortment of 19th century women’s clothes including high-topped, lace-up shoes.

   One of early Dayton’s prominent citizens was John D. Winters, who maintained a ranch outside of town. A large collection of saddles, brands and ranching equipment from his spread is on display.

   Wandering through the schoolhouse, which is the second oldest stone school building in the state and oldest schoolhouse in the state of Nevada that is still at its original location, you can also spot desks and classroom items once used in it.

   The building served as a school until 1959, then was the Dayton Senior Center for many years.

   Since Dayton also was the first seat of Lyon County, it is also appropriate that the museum has exhibits containing such items as the roll top desk of longtime Sheriff Perry Randall.

   Another prominent former Daytonite (an exhibit is devoted to him) was Adolph Sutro, the man responsible for building Sutro Tunnel. In the 1860s, Sutro constructed a four-mile tunnel into Mount Davidson from near Dayton in order to drain and ventilate the Comstock mines. The tunnel (which still exists and is currently being restored) is considered one of the engineering marvels of the 19th century.

   The region’s Native Americans are the subject of another exhibit, which contains dozens of arrowheads and spear points, several hand-woven baskets and a selection of grinding stones.

   A second room in the school features the paintings of Alice Cardelli and Fannie Gore Hazlett. The latter, who moved to Dayton in 1862, was quite an adventurer—she rode in an airplane when she was 82 years old.

   Outside the school are a handful of historic items including an old wooden wagon, a turn-of-the-century McCormick harvester and a couple of outhouses.

   The Dayton Museum is located at 135 Shady Lane in Dayton. It is open Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. There is no admission fee but donations are welcome.

   For more information, contact the Dayton Museum, 775-246-6316, or go to www.daytonnvhistory.org.

Murals Illustrate Ely's Rich History

 

Ely's Murals

    In Ely, Nevada, the building walls tell stories.

   Over the past two and a half decades, more than two-dozen building walls in the former copper mining town have been turned into works of art. Each now boasts a mural that tells a piece of the history of eastern Nevada.

   The effort to turn blank walls into artwork began in 1999, when a local business owner, the late Norm Goeringer, owner of the Hotel Nevada and several other Ely properties, hired well-known Nevada cowboy artist Larry Bute of Fallon to paint a giant mural titled, “Cattle Drive,” on the side of his building on the corner of Aultman and 4th streets.

   The giant full-color image depicts both a Nevada Northern Railway locomotive (which was headquartered in East Ely) and a cattle drive.

   Several other business owners liked the idea and a handful commissioned Bute to paint additional murals on their buildings. Eventually, a non-profit group formed, called the Ely Renaissance Society, which began raising money to transform empty walls into huge murals.

   Supporters of the mural project point to the town of Chemainus, British Columbia, as inspiration for the effort. There, more than 30 murals have been painted on local buildings and have helped revitalize a decaying lumber town.

   Similarly, Ely has experienced considerable economic turmoil as its once thriving copper mining industry faded in the 1980s and 1990s. The murals are a way to help Ely attract attention and visitors.

   In 2004, the town even hosted the Global Mural Conference, which brought about 100 mural artists and community arts and culture experts to town for several days of meetings and workshops.

   Wandering the streets of Ely, visitors can easily spot the town’s signature murals, which now number 28. In fact, the community has even developed a walking tour map and an audio tour, which can be found at www.whitepinemainstreet.com/ely-mural-and-arts-audio-tour/.

   While Larry Bute painted a handful of the murals, other artists have also contributed, including Wei Luan, Paul Ygartua, Don and Jared Gray and Colin Williams as well as Ely artists Chris Kreider and Don Cates.

   A walking tour of the murals is like leafing through the community’s photo album. The first mural commissioned by the Ely Renaissance Society, dedicated in 2000, is a patriotic scene showing an early 20th century Fourth of July celebration.

   Titled “4th of July Celebration,” the mural can be found on a building at 2000 Aultman Street.

   At 201 High Street, you can find another Bute painting, entitled “The Blacksmith Shop.” This image is a re-creation of an old-time blacksmith shop and faces the spot where an actual blacksmith shop was once located.

   A few of the other murals on the tour include:

   • “United By Our Children”—Located on a building at the corner of Aultman and Great Basin Boulevard, this mural by Paul Ygartua depicts local children representing the various ethnic groups that have settled over the years in the Ely area.

   • “Liberty Pit”—On the right corner of Aultman and 4th streets, this painting by Wei Luan is an historic interpretation of the Liberty Pit, a copper mine. The workers in the portrait represent various ethnic groups that came to Ely to work in the mines.

   • “Charcoal Ovens and Railroad Murals”—This pair of murals at 595 Aultman by Chris Krieder recognizes the efforts of the Italian workers who built the Ward Charcoal Ovens and laid the tracks for the Nevada Northern Railway.

   • “Basque Mural”—Painted on the side of the Cruise-In Car Wash at 1603 Aultman, this mural by Don and Jared Gray shows a Basque sheepherder, his horse, sheep camp on wheels and sheep herd. The mural represents the region’s rich Basque heritage.

   • “Cherry Creek Hot Springs”—The west side of the Economy Drug Store at 696 Aultman features this mural by Wei Luan, which depicts the former gold mining town of Cherry Creek and a well-known hot springs resort that was once there.

   • “Ghost Signage Mural”—Perhaps one of the most unusual murals is this historic collage of signs at 740 Aultman that have been restored by painter Paul Ygartua. Over the years, the wall had been painted and repainted with advertisements for different businesses. Ygartua created a ghostly effect by restoring all of the various signs atop each other.

   It all adds up to a community that’s proud of its history and heritage and eager to make sure neither are forgotten.

Washoe County Ghost Town of Flanigan Melts Into Memory

Site of the town of Flanigan (Photo courtesy of Foobar)

  Not much remains of the old railroad hamlet of Flanigan. Once a bustling little stop on the Western Pacific Railroad (WP) line, the site of the town has been largely reclaimed by the desert.

  Located at the eastern end of Honey Lake Valley, about five miles from the Nevada-California border, Flanigan was established in 1909 by the railroad as a station where passengers could be picked up and local farmers and ranchers could ship freight.

  The community’s name honored a prominent Reno businessman and former Nevada state senator named Patrick L. Flanigan, who had permitted the WP tracks to pass through the large cattle ranch he owned in the valley.

  According to Nevada historian Eric Moody, who authored, “Flanigan: Anatomy of a Railroad Ghost Town,” the station, however, was only active sporadically. Moody said was apparently used between November 1910 and March 1911, and again for a short time in 1919-20.

  Additionally, railroad maintenance staff were stationed in Flanigan from about the time of World War I to the 1950s.

  “Except for those periods when the station was active, freight and passenger trains stopped at Flanigan infrequently and then only when flagged,” Moody wrote.

  Interestingly, the station owes more of its existence to a later development, the construction in 1912-13 by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) of the Fernley & Lassen branch line, which crossed the Western Pacific tracks at Flanigan.

  As a result of this intersection of two railroads, Flanigan gained several railroad structures including a signal maintainer house, two bunk houses, a tool house, and a 24-foot-high signal tower. The latter was important because it alerted trains from both railroads of any impending traffic.

  The SP also assigned a railroad agent/signal operator, which provided a permanent presence in the community, and a telegraph operator.

  According to Moody, after the railroads were established, Flanigan entered its next phase, as a real estate promotion. Because of its location near Honey Lake, which had water, the fact there was rail service, and the growing development of irrigation projects in the region, land speculators began buying up local ranches, including around the railroad property at Flanigan.

  Soon, a townsite was plated at Flanigan. The plans indicated it would be a transportation hub for the burgeoning agricultural district that was to develop. The town itself would encompass some 30 blocks with more than 900 lots. There would be a school and library as well as two-block commercial district.

  Developers Charles A. Ross and George L. Warnken, of Oakland, California, began advertising lots for sale in local newspapers.

  Moody said that the promotors began drilling wells for water but hid the fact that despite their public statements that good water had been discovered, drilling did not produce drinkable water (there was too much saline in the water). In later years, the town would survive on water brought in by the railroad.

  Despite any drawbacks, apparently land sales were brisk, especially by buyers from California (who presumably had never visited the place).

  On November 13, 1913, the Reno Evening Gazette even speculated that “Reno may soon have a rival for the honor of being the metropolis of Nevada in the new and thriving town of Flanigan.”

  In December 1913, Flanigan saw the opening of the two-story, 12-room Hotel Flanigan, a symbol of the community’s progress. A post office opened in February 1914 and later that year, construction was completed on a school house.

  Moody said the town saw its longest period of stability from about the start of World War I until the early 1920s, when the demand for rail services peaked and the population reached about 200 people.

  Except for a period in the mid-1920s, when there was a tiny, short-lived oil boom, and some activity related to the development of military facilities in Herlong, Flanigan began a long, slow descent into irrelevancy. 

  By the 1950s, the town’s residents largely consisted of railroad employees and their families, who helped keep the school, post office, and a general store operating. In 1959, however, the Southern Pacific closed shop in Flanigan and demolished many of its buildings. This was soon followed by the Western Pacific’s abandonment of the town.

  The post office closed in March 1961 and a fire destroyed the general store (which now had the post office and served as the community center) in January 1969. A short time later, the school closed and the building was moved to another community.

  Today, if you wander the site, you’ll find the concrete foundations for several of the former buildings (all standing structures are now gone) as the sand, sagebrush and grasses have reclaimed the land.

  For more information, try to find a copy of Eric Moody’s excellent “Flanigan: Anatomy of a Railroad Ghost Town,” which was published in 1985. The book is out-of-print but may be found in local libraries. Additionally, it has been scanned for reading online at https://archive.org/details/flanigan0000unse/page/n3/mode/2up.

  Another source of good information on Flanigan is the Nevada Expeditions website, www.nvexpeditions.com/washoe/flanigan.php.