Looking past the present

During our Tahoe trip, we spent part of a day visiting Virginia City, Nevada - an old mining town outside of Carson City. The discovery of the first major deposit of silver ore, known as the Comstock Lode, was made here in 1859. It is one of the most famous boomtowns in the Old West as it virutally appeared overnight. It was founded by some folks on their way to the gold rush in California and soon prospectors rushed to the area, scrambling to stake their claims. Mining camps soon thrived in the vicinity and became bustling centers of fabulous wealth turning Virginia City into the most important settlement between Denver and San Francisco; and grubby prospectors into instant millionaires. They built mansions, imported furniture and fashions from around the world, and helped finance the Civil War.

The mountains were all mined out by 1898 and the population quickly declined. Today there are approximately 1,000 people living there. Interesting side note: the Virginia City High School basketball team has won more state championships than any other school in the state.

So... we were excited to see this quaint, historic boomtown of the wild, wild west complete with abandoned mines and swing door saloons. Driving up through Silver City and Gold Hill we saw plenty of abandoned mines...But as we approached Virginia City, things quickly changed to flashing lights and store shop signs. The main drag is still there complete with wooden boardwalks and saloons but they are filled with trinket shops and casinos. Our hopes of a Williamsburg-type of experience were quickly dashed. We were selective in our photos so you don't really get the touristy feel here, but it is there and a bit disappointing.
Cool saloon on the outide...But filled with slot machines on the inside. They really distracted from the old vibe of the place. The hanging glass lamps were nice though...Samuel Clemens began his writing career as Mark Twain in Virginia City, while working as a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise. We toured his "office" that is set in the basement of one of the shops.
His desk...His printing press (powered by water)...His toilet...We had a pint at the Union Brewery - the oldest saloon in Virginia City. But again, on the inside it was just a regular bar.Except for this great old flag with just 48 stars. Unfortunately someone decided to "wallpaper" it to the ceiling.The bartender did share an interesting (and sad) story with us about the bar. The bar brewed its own beer up until 15 years ago when the Hell's Angels took the equipment (new and historic) on a midnight-justice raid on account that the owner owed them LOTS of money... for things unseemly.

Virginia City is a National Historic Landmark but it's too bad they put more emphasis on tourism than they do history. We had more fun exploring on the drive up - inspecting old mines and bygone equipment and imagining what the area was like in the middle of its hey-day - than we did trying to look past the present in town.