Courthouse
than 20 years we visited Western Nevada at least once a year. We have seen it in all seasons, and in various stages of growth and decline, although we haven't been through the state for several years recently.
Today we started driving through the part of Nevada that we know much better. For more
Courthouse
than 20 years we visited Western Nevada at least once a year. We have seen it in all seasons, and in various stages of growth and decline, although we haven't been through the state for several years recently.
If this were a large metropolis like Oakland or Phoenix, we would notice some individual neighborhoods but we would probably not be aware of regional changes. Today we moved through large areas of uninhabited land punctuated by small towns. Goldfield has always struck us -- it is a once wildly successful city,, one of the largest cities in the Western United States, now continuing a steady descent into ruin.
According to the excellent guidebook* we purchased at the Nevada Northern Railway Company museum in Ely, "at its peak of prosperity Goldfield was an eccentric combination of wild western boomtown, and decorous, respectable city. There were miners and prospectors and 
Fire Station
saloon roughs, plenty of them, but there were also stenographers and telephone operators, bankers and stock brokers. Goldfield was the largest city in Nevada and Goldfield Hotel was the most opulent shopping place between Kansas City and the Pacific Coast."
George Wingfield was the entrepreneur who enabled the development of Goldfield. Wingfield was a buckeroo, a flamboyant cowboy who roamed the territory between Oregon and Nevada in the last years of the nineteenth century. After persuading a banker to lend him $150, Wingfield parlayed this to form the basis of his fortune in gambling clubs. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Goldfield mines struck it rich and Wingfield knew just what to do. He borrowed more money from Eastern investors and built up his holdings in local mining ventures.
George Wingfield House
However, the gold mine bonanza was short lived.** The rich ore vein had been exhausted. The days of lavish spending were over and the population moved on, following the next new strike. Despite many efforts through the twentieth century and even today, it is a ghost town.
But the fancy buildings had been made of brick and stone and still stand -- or at least parts of them do. After all, in an area where there are absolutely no trees, stone is the only sensible building material. There are half a dozen streets with houses, many still occupied, the Goldfield Hotel is such a tempting restoration project that today as we passed, construction vehicles and trash piles fill its back yard, with the look of a job that would be continued maybe tomorrow.
Gemfield - Wild Inspirations
During our years of visiting Goldfield, we witnessed several efforts to gut and rebuild the hotel. Each time, we heard hopeful predictions, but there was never enough investment money to make much of a dent in the building's decay. The few attractive buildings, some belonging to the wealthy men of a century ago (including Wingfield), stand out among the junk.
Whenever we are anywhere near Goldfield, we try to revisit it, because you never know: Maybe there will have been another gold strike, or maybe a new mineral has been discovered near Goldfield and miners will be attracted. It hasn't happened yet, but it might.
* The Complete Nevada Traveler, by David W. Toll, Gold Hill Publishing, Inc., Virginia City, NV 2008.
** Wingfield moved to Reno, where Fortune Magazine labeled him "King George, the proprietor of Nevada."