Daveytown Turned Out to be No Gravy Train

 

   The story of the old mining camp of Daveytown, located directly west of U.S. 95, about 30 miles northwest of Winnemucca, is no different from that of dozens of mining towns strewn across the state of Nevada.

   Gold was discovered in the area in 1910 and within a few months a small camp had grown. Originally known as Awakening, apparently a pun because the site was on the east slope of Slumbering Hills, it soon had a saloon, a general store, and a handful of houses and other businesses.

   By 1912, sufficient gold ore was being produced that it was being shipped to processing facilities in other communities and Awakening’s future seemed secure.

   Over the next half-decade, three mills opened in the area to handle the ore and the camp’s name was changed to Daveytown, which apparently derived from the nearby Davey Mine.

   But, like so many other Nevada mining camps, the boom was short-lived. By the mid-1920s, the mines had closed and most residents had picked up and moved on.

   New discoveries in 1935, however, reignited interest in the region, particularly following the opening of the Jumbo Mine (so named because it seemed to contain such a large quantity of ore).

   This second wave spurred new development and investment in the local mines, which were even visited in 1936 by former President Herbert Hoover, a mining engineer, who had a keen interest in Nevada mines.

   In his invaluable reference book, “Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps,” author Stanley Paher noted that Daveytown and the Jumbo Mine received a substantial amount of attention in the media in the late 1930s, including articles in West Coast newspapers and on the “March of Time” national radio program.

   In 1937, oil man H.L. Hunt of Texas and several partners secured a long-term lease on the Jumbo Mine, but lost it following a legal dispute. Between the mid-1930s and 1941, the Jumbo remained a consistent gold producer and lived up to its name.

   Following World War II, when most Nevada mines were closed, the Daveytown area mines reopened for a few years before finally shutting down in the early 1950s.

   Since then, the community has been gradually melting back into the dirt and sagebrush. Today, visitors who find the site, which is reached after following an ungraded dirt road for about 12 miles, will see one fairly intact wooden house with a rusted metal roof as well as the wooden foundations of an old mill.

   The area is also littered with mounds of rusted metal panels and weathered wood beams and other decaying remnants of the town. Across the dirt road from the main section of ruins, you can find the rusted skeleton of an abandoned 1930s-era automobile.

   The site is particularly popular among ghost town photographers, who seem enchanted with the old automobile as well as off-road explorers and ghost town enthusiasts.

   The town also has a geocache, which was featured a few years ago on the Reno PBS television program, “Wild Nevada.” You can view the episode here: https://watch.pbsreno.org/video/episode-205-winnemucca-to-paradise-valley-zeiv2n/).

   For more information about Daveytown (or Jumbo), contact the Humboldt County Museum in Winnemucca, 175 Museum Lane, Winnemucca or go to http://humboldtmuseum.org.