BELMONT
by
THE FORMER SILVER MINING TOWN OF BELMONT straddles State Highway 82, in the middle of
nowhere about an hour drive northeast of Tonopah, in the heart of Nevada. It consists of a handful of lived-in homes,
old miner’s
cabins, an active saloon, cemetery,
the restored Nye
County Courthouse, a collection of mill ruins, and a WONDERFUL main
street lined with brick, rock and wooden building ruins,
remnants from the town’s boom days. Our
tour will begin at the east end of town, where the tall brick smokestack of the Combination
Mill stands proudly on the crown of a hill high above the
scrub juniper forest and the brick and rock-walled ruins of the mill and
outlying buildings. The mill was built around 1868 and consisted of a
forty-stamp battery. Magnificent ruins
of the rock walls remain. The brick-lined door to the explosives bunker still
remains in one of the walls. Just to the
west of the mill are several rock-walled cabin ruins that remain of East
Belmont.
Off a short distance to the south is the
roofless, brick-walled hulk of the Cameron
Mill which is
frequently and erroneously called the Highbridge Mill
(even in GNIS). It was built from the bricks scavenged from
the Combination Mill and was the second of the large mills to operate at this
end of town. Due to the distance from
the parking area, I elected not to visit, but to view it from my telephoto
lens. The road to the mill is NOT
passable in a passenger car, so either a four-wheel drive or high clearance
vehicle is needed, or the visitor must walk the half mile or so.
Then there’s the
town itself. Only one word expresses my
feelings for this town: WOW!
Belmont is just a
hollow
shell of a once-booming
1860s-era silver mining town. For 20 years,
During its boom
days, Belmont had all the businesses it needed, including the post office
(1867-1911 & 1915-1922), boarding houses, brewery, a church, doctors, fire department, drugstore,
general stores, livery stable, three newspapers, six ore mills, restaurants,
saloons, five sawmills, stage line, telegraph and an undertaker. There were also a number of fraternal
organizations. One of the most famous
buildings in town was the Cosmopolitan
Saloon and dance hall. Photos of the ghostly two-story
wooden building have graced countless articles and books featuring Belmont, but
it unfortunately succumbed to vandals in 1989, and today lies in a large jumble
of faded, twisted lumber.
By 1887,
Today’s Belmont
shows a little life as newer cabins have been built, a bed & breakfast
operates in the old mining company office and Dirty Dick’s Belmont Saloon is the focal point for the few
residents and lots of travelers coming in.
The old church was carted off to nearby
Belmont is one of those fabulous
old ghost towns that MUST be experienced to believe. It is what makes this crazy hoppy so
enjoyable.
This was our Ghost Town of the Month for Nov 2009
This
is one of the towns featured in my newest
book, GHOST
TOWNS: Yesterday & TodayTM.
SITE NAME |
ELEV. |
LATITUDE |
LONGITUDE |
TOWNSHIP/RANGE |
Belmont |
7424’ |
38.5960444
38° 35’ 46” N |
-116.8742436
116° 52’ 27” W |
NW¼ Sec 25, NE¼ Sec 26 T9N, R45E, MDM
* (*Mount Diablo |
Belmont – Cemetery |
7214’ |
38.5843779
38° 35’ 04” N |
-116.8789658
116° 52’ 44” W |
NE¼ Sec 35, T9N, R45E, MDM |
Belmont – Combination Mill |
7244’ |
38.5885445
38° 35’ 19” N |
-116.8578540
116° 51’ 28” W |
SE¼ Sec 25, T9N, R45E, MDM |
Belmont – Court House |
7392’ |
38.5957666
38° 35’ 45” N |
-116.8761881
116° 52’ 34” W |
NE¼ Sec 26 T9N, R45E, MDM |
Belmont – Cameron Mill (AKA – Highbridge Mill in error) |
7241’ |
38.5804981
38° 34’ 50” N |
-116.8589651
116° 51’ 32” W |
NE¼ Sec 36 T9N, R45E, MDM |
Belmont – Monitor-Belmont Mill |
7241’ |
38.5899334
38° 35’ 24” N |
-116.8814660
116° 52’ 53” W |
SCtr Sec 26 T9N, R45E, MDM |
***************
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FIRST POSTED: September 01,
1998
LAST UPDATED: February 27, 2010
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