San Francisco's Most Beautiful Spot

When most people think about San Francisco, they envision a cosmopolitan, urban place with majestic, tall buildings, culturally diverse neighborhoods and manmade landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower.

And they would certainly find all of that during a visit.

But the City by the Bay has another—more natural—side. Out on the northwestern edge of the city is the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which includes a starkly beautiful place known as Lands End.

Located near the Cliff House (at the end of Geary Street), Lands End is best experienced with a hike along the main Coastal Trail, which begins from a parking lot adjacent to the ruins of Sutro Baths. The mile-and-a half trail retraces the cliff top route of the long-gone Ferries and Cliff House Railroad.

The railroad, which once carried San Franciscans from the downtown to Sutro Baths and the wilds of Lands End, operated from 1888 to 1904, when it was largely replaced by the city’s electric trolley system.

The old rail-bed trail skirts Point Lobos and looks out over the entrance to the San Francisco Bay and, in the distance, the Golden Gate Bridge. It offers some of the city’s most spectacular views of the Marin Headlands (to the north), the bridge and the bay.

Bordering the trail are dozens of cypress and pine trees, many of which have been flattened and molded by the nearly constant ocean winds. Growing as high at 80-feet, the cypress and pine trees were transplanted from Monterey into the area in the late 19th century by city landscapers yet have become signature trees for the region.

Lands End is also home to a handful of birds and other wildlife that manage to survive in such an unusual environment. According to the National Park Service, as many as 140 species of birds, 41 mammals and 14 amphibians and reptiles can be found in the area.

Additionally, the area serves as a refueling stop for migrating warblers, grosbeaks and nuthatches, which, according to Ariel Rubissow, author of “Cliff House & Lands End: San Francisco’s Seaside Retreat,” use its forests to replenish their energy reserves before trying to cross the Golden Gate channel to reach the Marin headlands.

The park service also notes that Lands End is home to several endangered species including the California redlegged frog and the bumblebee scarab beetle.

From the trail and several overlooks you can see the crumbling, steep and unstable cliffs below as well as the treacherous rocks poking out of the bay waters that once seemed to reach out and snag the bows of passing ships.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the San Francisco headlands claimed dozens of ships. The remains of a handful can still be seen near Ocean Beach. Rubissow has written that before the invention of the fog horn, sea captains listened for the loud barks of the sea lions on nearby Seal Rock to guide them away from the rocks.

On higher ground above the Coastal Trail is a parallel track that can serve as a loop trail for those heading back to the parking lot at Sutro Baths. This second trail winds through West Fort Miley, the remnants of a military reservation that once served as part of the country’s seacoast defense system.

While little remains of the fortifications, hikers can still find old gun emplacements as well as a monument commemorating the USS San Francisco, which fought at Guadalcanal in 1942. Additionally, the area boasts picnic tables, grills and restrooms.

For more information about the Golden Gate National Recreation Area go to http://www.nps.gov/goga.

Northern California's Kentucky Mine Museum is Worth a Visit

Diffused sunlight streams in through a dusty window, providing just enough light to see. Huge support timbers—big enough to seem incapable of rotting—crisscross the ceiling. Large, oil-covered metal wheels, rods and pistons seem poised and ready to operate.

One of the most amazing things about the Kentucky Mill is that it almost looks like it could operate today. Restored in the mid-1970s, the mill is a remarkably intact example of an early 20th century stamp mill.

The Kentucky Mill is part of the Kentucky Mine/Sierra County Historical Park and Museum, located just north of the historic mining town of Sierra City. To reach it, go west of Reno on I-80 to Truckee. Turn north on Highway 89 and continue to Sattley. Turn west on Highway 49 to Sierra City.

Gold was first discovered in the vicinity of Sierra City in the early 1850s by miners following in the footsteps of explorers Jim Beckwourth and Major William Downie.

In 1853, the Kentucky Consolidated Mining Company was formed to develop the gold resources found north of Sierra City. In the 1860s, a five-stamp mill was built at the Kentucky, a hardrock mine, which was increased in size to ten stamps in 1888.

As with most mines, activity at the Kentucky Mine waxed and waned through the years. In 1920, after several decades of abandonment, Emil Loeffler of Sierra City made another attempt to work the Kentucky. Operating it as a kind of hobby, Loeffler and his son found sufficient ore to continue working the site for the next few years.

In 1928, the Loefflers decided to construct a new mill, using materials and equipment salvaged from other mines. The mine and mill, which took five years to build, operated until 1944, when, tragically, Adolph "Dutch" Loeffler, Emil's son, was killed in the mine. Despite the loss, the family sporadically operated the facility until 1953.

In the late 1960s, the Sierra County Historical Society embarked on an aggressive program to identify valuable historic resources in the region, with the idea of preserving the best.

Because of its good condition—the Loefflers had continued to maintain it over the years—the Kentucky Mine and Mill was selected as the first site for preservation.
In 1974, following the passage of a statewide bond for historic preservation projects, the county purchased the Kentucky from the Loeffler family, and began restoring the site, including the mill, mine tunnel, blacksmith shop and trestle.

Today, visitors will find one of the best preserved early 20th century mining mills in California. A picturesque high trestle, which still seems capable of carrying filled ore carts, connects the three-story mill to the mine on an adjacent hillside.

The mine site is interesting because the blacksmith shop was built at the mine's entrance. Ore carts ran on a track that passed through the middle of the shop. Next door to the mine/blacksmith shop is a restored miner's shack, filled with furnishings and other accoutrements typically used by an old sourdough.

Inside the mill, which you can see during an informative guided tour, you will find a Pelton wheel, an innovative air compressor system for dynamite drilling, and an impressive milling operation that included ominous ore crushers (the gears boast huge spiked teeth) and stamps.

Below the mill, you can tour a nice small museum, located inside of a replica of a 19th century hotel (the Bigelow House, which once stood in nearby Sierra City). The museum contains plenty of Sierra County artifacts, including a fine collection of historic photographs, mining certificates, a school desk, ancient quilts, a safe, piano, phonograph and other objects.

Additionally, in the summer the museum offers a concert series in an amphitheater built a few years ago. Concerts have included jazz, bluegrass, country, folk and classical artists from around the world.

Nearby Sierra City is also worthy of note. While avalanches flattened the town in 1852, 1888, and 1889, enough remains to hint at the town's rich mining history.

Several brick buildings have survived, including the 1871 Busch Building, once a Wells Fargo office, and reportedly the birthplace of The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus. This historic society/social club, founded by gold miners in 1857, was originally created as a parody of several brotherhood organizations, such as the Masons and Odd Fellows.

The Clampers faded toward the end of the century, but were restarted in 1931 by a San Francisco historian. The group continues to thrive and, in addition to being a rowdy drinking society, has erected hundreds of informative historic markers throughout the West.

Sierra City is also nestled below the magnificent Sierra Buttes, among the most beautiful mountains in Northern California.

For more information contact the Sierra County Park and Museum, P.O. Box 260, Sierra City, CA 96125, 530-862-1310, www.kentuckymine.org.

Tales of Unionville

The mining town of Unionville is rich—but with stories, not silver or gold. In fact, it was famed writer Mark Twain who first dredged up a few tales about this once-promising 19th century mining camp.

Twain arrived in Unionville in the winter of1861 and promptly set out to make his fortune as a miner. In his classic book, “Roughing It,” he described early Unionville as consisting “of eleven cabins and a liberty pole. Six of the cabins were strung along one side of a deep canyon, and the other five faced them.”

He went on to write: “The rest of the landscape was made up of bleak mountain walls that rose so high into the sky from both sides of the canyon that the village was left, as it were, far down in the bottom of a crevice. It was always daylight on the mountain tops a long time before darkness lifted and revealed Unionville.”

After a short time in the mining town, Twain wrote that he discovered a shiny piece of rock that he knew had to be gold. His glee, which he called “a delirious revel,” turned to embarrassment when a more experienced prospector revealed his “find” was only granite and glittery mica.

“So vanished my dream. So melted my wealth away. So toppled my airy castle to the earth and left me stricken and forlorn,” he noted. “Moralizing, I observed, then, that ‘all that glitters is not gold.’”

Later, however, Twain made a more important discovery.

“We had learned the real secret of success in silver mining—which was not to mine the silver ourselves by the sweat of our brows and the labor of our hands, but to sell the ledges to the dull slaves of toil and let them do the mining!”

Of course, Twain’s stories aren’t the only ones told about Unionville. For instance, it began life in the spring of 1861 as a mining camp that was named Dixie by a group of miners who identified with the Confederacy—remember this was during the Civil War.

Soon, however, more people flocked to the boomtown. Most of the later residents were Union sympathizers and, after a brief political skirmish, the town’s name was finally changed to Unionville.

Another tale about Unionville is that even though it was the first seat of Humboldt County, it wasn’t really built to last.

Stanley Paher, author of several Nevada history books, has written that lumber shipped to the town was so bad that one newspaper reported that when it rained the county clerk stacked his papers into one corner of his office “where the rain didn’t come any thicker than it did outside.”

Despite the travails, Unionville managed to grow during 1862-63. During that time, it had nearly 1,000 residents and numerous businesses including ten stores, six hotels, nine saloons, a brewery and a newspaper.

The town experienced brief spurts of mining activity during the next decade before losing the county seat to Winnemucca in 1873. By 1880, the good years were behind Unionville, which slowly slipped into obscurity.

Fortunately, Unionville never completely disappeared. After mining ceased, the local economy shifted to ranching and agriculture and, in recent years, tourism.

In fact, the main thing happening in the town today is the Old Pioneer Garden Bed and Breakfast. The two-story bed and breakfast is located in a former wagon maker’s home (only the stone walls remain of the original building) and offers 11 rooms, six with private baths (775-538-7585 for reservations).

Additionally, there are other ruins of old Unionville sprinkled throughout beautiful Buena Vista Canyon, which is the site of the town. Stone walls and foundations, a few intact wooden houses, tall cottonwoods, old barns and a picturesque one-room school house (not open to the public) are among the historic survivors.

A small creek, which runs down the canyon and through the town, enhances the general sense of peacefulness found here.

And, of course, there are plenty of good stories.

Unionville is located about half-way between Lovelock and Winnemucca. To reach it, travel east of Lovelock on Interstate 80 to the Mill City exit. Head south on State Route 400 for about 15 miles, then drive west for three miles on a good dirt road.

What's Behind Some of Those I-80 Exit Names, Anyway?—Part 2

Continuing with our trip across Interstate 80—and the stories behind the names on the exit signs found along the route—the next stop is Imlay, located six miles northeast of Humboldt. Imlay was a former division point for the Southern Pacific Railroad and once served as an important stop for pioneers on the Emigrant Trail.

The area around Imlay was originally known as Lassen (or Lawson) Meadows and served as the turn off for those traveling north on the Applegate Trail to Oregon. It was also the only place with much grass and water before heading west to Big Meadows (Lovelock).

In 1908, the small hamlet of Imlay was founded by the railroad, which built a roundhouse and shops. A post office opened and the town soon had saloons, a hotel, a church and other services. The town, which grew to several hundred people, also served several local mining camps.

Imlay began to decline after the mines closed and the railroad removed its facilities. Today, about 100 people live in the community. Adjacent to Imlay is a large, strange, man-made mound of concrete, glass and scrap metal known as Thunder Mountain.

This unusual folk art creation was built in the 1960s and 1970s by a self-taught artist who called himself Chief Rolling Thunder Mountain. Today, it remains an interesting roadside oddity that is open to the public.

Four miles east of Imlay is the Mill City exit. While only a handful of houses and a few ruins remain, in the 1860s, this was the site of a mining town with several mills—hence the name. By 1868, the town had become a railroad connection for the nearby mining towns of Unionville and Dun Glen.

From Mill City, the Interstate passes through Winnemucca before hitting the next roadside stop, called Button Point. This site was named after Frank Button, who operated a large cattle ranch in the area in the 1870s. Today, a shaded rest stop offers one of the best views of the bends and bows found along the meandering Humboldt River.

Six miles farther is the Golconda exit. In 1868, the railroad opened a freight station here, which was named after a famous town in India noted for its diamonds (the name apparently signified that it was a place of great wealth).

In the early 20th century, a resort hotel and spa was erected to take advantage of natural hot springs in the area. The resort operated until 1961, when it was destroyed in a fire.

Continuing east, the next exit is Iron Point, a railroad siding built in the late 1870s (it still serves in that capacity for local mines). The name is derived from the reddish, iron-ore rocks found in the region. Iron Point also overlooks the Pumpernickel Valley—surely one of the most descriptive names on the Nevada map. The valley was named for a nearby bread loaf-shaped mountain.

Stone House, located about nine miles away, is the next nowhere exit and gained its name from a stone Overland Stage station, built in the 1870s, that was once located here.

About five miles from Stone House is Valmy, a tiny enclave named after a French battle site. It was said that the local tribes continually fought over springs in the area. In 1910, the railroad established a supply stop for its trains to re-water and re-fuel. Today, the town offers gas, food, and lodging to travelers on the interstate.

About six miles from Valmy is the Mote interchange. What you see is basically what there is to Mote. Nothing. Mote was originally a railroad siding and that’s all it’s ever been.

Next up is Battle Mountain, located 10 miles east of Mote. The community was established in 1867 by miners who found silver and gold in the region. The name is apparently derived from either the fact that Indians attacked a wagon train in the area or they raided a road crew—no one is exactly sure. In the late 1860s, the Central Pacific Railroad established a station at Battle Mountain.

About 13 miles from Battle Mountain is the Argenta exit, a railroad siding established in the 1860s. The name, derived from the Spanish word for silver, also applied to a nearby mining camp which was picked up and moved to Battle Mountain in 1870. Ten miles from Argenta is Dunphy, a rail siding named after a nearby ranch.

The next noteworthy exit is Beowawe, located 7 miles from Dunphy. Beowawe is the site of a once-famous cluster of geysers—including one that rose more than 30-feet-high.
Unfortunately, in the 1960s, the geysers ceased to erupt when a geothermal power plant was built nearby that diverted the underground hot water.

Ten miles from the Beowawe interchange is the Palisade exit. From here, travelers with four-wheel drive vehicles can head 10 miles south to the Palisades, a 12-mile canyon with spectacular rock cliffs split by the Humboldt River.

Additionally, you pass through the ruins of Palisade, a former railroad town on the river that served as the connecting point for the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Eureka and Palisade Railroad.

Ten miles east of the Palisade turn-off is the mining town of Carlin. Originally a railroad stop, Carlin was named after William Passmore Carlin, a famous Civil War officer (Union side). About seven miles from Carlin, you pass through the 1,900-foot Carlin Tunnels and head toward Elko. Along the way, take time to notice the magnificent stone pillars located next to the interstate. These unusual rock spires were formed by erosion.

From Elko, the interstate continues to the town of Wells and along the way passes a handful of other nearly forgotten exits, including: Halleck, named for Camp Halleck, a 1860s fort once located 12 miles south of the highway; Deeth, a small ranching community that was once a railroad station; and Oasis, a roadside stop named after a local ranch.

From Oasis, it’s a straight shot to Wendover, the last Nevada stop before entering Utah, which has its own share of forgotten or unusual exit sign names.

The Stories Behind I-80s Exit Sign Names - Part 1

You’re driving on Interstate 80 and spot an exit sign for a place called Mote.

You wonder—what the heck is Mote? Or Toulon (pictured above)? Or Valmy? In fact, as you drive you notice that there are a bunch of names on exit signs along the interstate that identify places that don’t seem to amount to much.

Not surprisingly, there is a story behind nearly every one of those names (except, it seems, for Mote, which apparently is little more than one).

For instance, head east of Fernley and you can encounter one of the first of these phantom sidings, at the intersection marked Nightingale (about 17 miles from Fernley).

At first glance, it appears to consist of a small geothermal plant. But closer study indicates that in addition to being the location of a geothermal food processing facility, Nightingale was once a stop on the Emigrant Trail.

In the 1840s, emigrants discovered the hot springs located in this valley. Originally called “Boiling Springs,” the spot offered the only water within 20 miles (it was cooled and, despite being salty and brackish, used by early pioneers).

Later, the place was called Brady’s Hot Springs and became the location of a popular resort that featured a warm water swimming pool.

The name “Nightingale,” which is associated with the spot today, can be traced to a former mining town once located about 21 miles north. In 1917, tungsten deposits were discovered in the Nightingale Range to the north of I-80. A small camp named after the mountains cropped up at the site. but, after about a decade, faded away.

The Nightingale Range was named in honor of Captain Alanson W. Nightengill (the name was corrupted on state maps), the first State Controller and a survivor of the 1860 Pyramid Lake Indian War.

Twelve miles east is the exit sign for Jessup. While little is located there today, Jessup was another short-lived mining town, located 4 miles north of the present intersection with I-80.

Gold was discovered in Jessup in 1908, and within a few months nearly 300 people had settled in this remote camp. The boom was over by the end of 1909 and the town melted back into the desert.

Another 12 miles farther is the turn-off for Toulon. Unlike most other mining sites, the original mill is still standing here—it’s the large, two-story metal building adjacent to the railroad tracks.

Toulon, which appears to have been named for a French seaport (although why a spot in the desert is named after a seaport remains a mystery), was founded in 1917 following construction of a large mill to treat tungsten, gold and silver ore mined at Nightingale.

The mill was used sporadically over the years. The impressive ruins are located on private property and the owners are extremely protective of the site. Ask before stepping onto the property or take photos from the road.

The next orphan exit is located 14 miles east of Lovelock at Oreana. In the 1880s, the Southern Pacific Railroad developed a sidetrack and small station at this site.

In 1912, with the discovery of rich gold and silver deposits in nearby Rochester, Oreana boomed and soon had several stores, saloons, a large hotel and a depot. A year later, the Nevada Short Line Railway was built to connect Rochester with Oreana.

Rochester’s mines began to decline after 1917 and Oreana quietly slipped into obscurity. By the mid-1920s, its last businesses closed.

Today, foundations and a few wooden houses are the only survivors. Rochester, located 10 miles southeast, is a ghost town with several headframes, a decaying mill and a handful of other buildings.

Another 16 miles down the interstate brings you to the Humboldt exit. While today Humboldt seems to consist of a roadside rest stop, a few small ranches and a grove of huge poplars and cottonwoods, the site originally was a stagecoach stop.

In 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad built the Humboldt House there, which served as an inn and meal stop for train passengers traveling across Nevada.

The presence of good water allowed the railroad to develop a kind of oasis in the desert with shade trees, flower and vegetable gardens, and fruit orchards. The need for Humboldt House disappeared after the 1890s when the railroad introduced dining cars. The inn operated as a roadside stop for several more decades before closing in the 1940s.

More about other I-80 place names next time.

Gold Hill's Historic Treasures

You know the train is coming to Gold Hill long before you see it. It lets out a loud, throaty whistle and a cloud of smoke appears over the hill above the community—the signal that the Virginia and Truckee train is beginning its descent into the historic mining town.

The locomotive stops near the old Gold Hill Depot for passengers to disembark. For most of the last 130 years, V&T trains have been dropping people off here.

The former mining town of Gold Hill shares a similar history with Virginia City. In the late 1850s, both were the location of gold and silver discoveries that became part of the fabulous Comstock Lode.

Historians believe that Gold Hill was established in about 1859, initially as little more than a few dozen miners camping under trees, in tents, and in crude shacks. But within a few years, Gold Hill rivaled Virginia City in size and population.

By the early 1870s, the town claimed 8,000 residents as well as one of the most well known newspapers in the state, "The Gold Hill News." It had schools, several fire companies, banks, churches, a post office, a town hall, and was an important stop on the V & T Railroad line, which eventually stretched from Virginia City to Reno.

As with Virginia City, Gold Hill’s decline began in the late 1870s when the mines were played out. By 1882, the newspaper had closed (it moved to Idaho), and the people gradually drifted away. By 1943, Gold Hill couldn’t support a post office.

While much of Gold Hill has disappeared over the years—the buildings were generally victims of fires, neglect, and removal—enough remains to offer an interesting historic walking tour of this once-thriving mining town.

The old V & T Depot, for example, still sits on a flat near the north end of the canyon. The wooden board and batten frame building, constructed in 1872, was used until the Virginia City portion of the V & T ceased operating in the late 1930s.

In recent years, the depot has been partially restored and serves as the ticket office for the revived V & T Railroad.

Down the canyon from the V & T Depot is the former Bank of California building, which dates back to 1862. The red brick and stone structure is one of the few surviving commercial buildings from Gold Hill’s early days.

The bank building was originally the home of the Gold Hill Bank, and then was purchased in 1873 by William Sharon to become part of his Bank of California. In 1879, the Bank of California moved to Virginia City and since then the building has housed a variety of businesses including a pool hall and art gallery.

Next door to the bank is the Gold Hill Hotel, the oldest hotel in the state. The original stone structure—the front part of the building—was constructed in 1859. The two-story wooden section, to the rear, is a newer addition built about two decades ago.

Up the hill from the hotel are the picturesque remains of the Yellow Jacket Mine incline shaft and headframe, built in 1937. The warped, wooden chutes leading down the hill once carried ore from the headframe at the shaft at the top.

Adjacent to the hotel is the Crown Point Mill, constructed when the area's mines were reworked in the 1930s. Built in 1935, the mill processed ore from the Yellow Jacket and Crown Point mines. The main buildings have been maintained over the years.

Across State Route 341 from the Crown Point Mill are the Lynch House, a white Victorian on the highway, and the Pink House, a very pink-colored Victorian on the hillside above, which was once a very fashionable neighborhood in Gold Hill.

The Lynch home was built in 1869 by a state legislator while the Pink House was constructed in the 1860s for a nephew of U.S. Senator John P. Jones, who served as Nevada’s Congressional representative from 1873 to 1903. Both are private residences.

Next door to the Lynch place are the green-colored stone foundations of the Rhode Island Mill. Dating to 1862, the mill was one of the first stamp mills in Gold Hill.
Of course, throughout Gold Hill you can still find a handful of long-abandoned mining shacks and ruins, which provide an idea of the modest existences of most of the town’s miner-residents.

Two significant headframes mark the southern boundary of Gold Hill and the next town downhill, which is Silver City. The first, an impressive metal skeleton on the hill above the road (there is a mine shaft at the base of the hill) is part of the New York Mine and was built in 1913.

The other, located about a quarter-mile south, is the Keystone headframe. This wooden structure, surrounded by a metal fence, was built in the late 19th century and is considered one of the best remaining examples of the type of mining equipment once common throughout the Comstock.

Gold Hill is located about 20 miles northeast of Carson City via U.S. Highway 50 and State Route 341.

For more information check out the Gold Hill Hotel’s web site at http://www.goldhillhotel.net/.

The Town Known as "The Widow Maker"

Once one of southeastern Nevada’s most prominent mining camps, Delamar has suffered as much abuse and neglect as any ghost town in the state.

The town’s story began in 1890-91, when farmers from the Pahranagat Valley in eastern Nevada uncovered gold in the area. By 1892, the Ferguson Mining District was established and miners from nearby Pioche began prospecting the area.

A year later, Captain John De Lamar of Montana acquired most of the principal claims in the district, which was renamed after him (although it was later changed slightly to Delamar).

De Lamar invested in the district, which between 1895 and 1900 was the most productive mining area in the state. A post office was opened in 1894 and within three years the camp had grown into a full-scale town with about 3,000 residents, shops, saloons, hotels, a hospital, churches and a newspaper, The De Lamar Lode, which continued publishing until 1906.

Delamar, however, soon gained notoriety as a very dangerous place to work. Water was scarce and the dry drilling techniques used to extract gold from the rock generated a fine silica dust (called the Delamar Dust) that resulted in silicosis, a painful and ultimately fatal lung disease.

In fact, many miners began referring to Delamar as “the Widow Maker” because of the high death rate.

Despite its deadly reputation, the town thrived because local mine owners paid exceptionally high wages for the time, $3 per day.

Additionally, by the late 1890s, Nevada was experiencing a statewide mining slump—Virginia City and Austin had ceased producing much ore while Tonopah and Goldfield were yet to be discovered—so many miners were eager for work.

Eventually, a water pipeline was installed to carry water from Meadow Valley Wash, located 12 miles north. The arrival of a reliable water source finally improved working conditions in the mines but not soon enough for those who were afflicted with lung disease.

About half of Delamar was destroyed by fire in 1900. The town was rebuilt but two years later De Lamar sensed the boom was over and sold his mining interests. New owners continued operations until about 1909.

During its decade-and-a-half of operations, Delamar generated more than $13 million in gold.

With its principal industry closed, Delamar began a quick decline. Although there were periodic revivals of the mines, the district proved to be played out.

Photographs from the 1950s show that Delamar still contained fairly substantial ruins up to that time. Local folks recall that until the 1960s, visitors to Delamar could still find a house with a piano and partial furnishings, as well as a saloon that contained liquor bottles that had been partially melted by fire.

But during the next two decades, souvenir-hunters discovered Delamar and hauled out nearly anything that could be removed. Even some of the headstones at the Delamar cemetery (which is still there, north of the town site) were taken.

Today, Delamar has been reduced to a handful of stone foundations and partial buildings peeking through the sagebrush. Below the town site are thick wooden beams that were once part of the local stamp mill.

The hillsides around the town are littered with tailing mounds and there is a large depression, which appears to have once been the site of considerable mining activity, which can be seen near the top of the mountain that overlooks the town.

Delamar is located about 28 miles southwest of Caliente via U.S. 93 and a marked, four-wheel drive gravel and dirt road. You drive about 15 miles on the dirt road, through a forest of Joshua trees, before reaching the site. The road is not recommended for passenger cars.

For more information, check out http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nv/delamar.html.