Virginia City, NV

One of the richest of the mining boom towns, Virginia City's population was about 25K at its peak in 1875. Nowadays it's less than 1K.  The first major silver discovery in the US, it hastened Nevada's statehood and helped finance the union side of the Civil War.

Above and below, the main drag is full of vintage structures now devoted to tourism.

 

Samuel Clemens was here for a couple years, working for one of the local newspapers, left town in a hurry to avoid a duel.  His first book, Roughing It, is set in the City, and it was also his first use of his pen name, Mark Twain.  George Hearst, father of William Randolph, made his fortune here. Many famous entertainers performed in the VC Opera House, including Lily Langtry.

The schoolhouse, below, built in 1876, had 1K students in the peak years.  It was closed for 50 years before being refurbished and reopened in 1986 as a museum.

This painting in the Silver Queen Hotel lobby is decorated with 3261 silver dollars minted in Carson City from silver mined in Virginia City. She's 15' tall and 8' wide, truly a woman with a lot to offer.

Who's that kid in the candy shop?

The Red Dog Saloon (above and below) helped usher in the rock and roll era in the 60's; Janis Joplin performed here as did many others.  The picture below displays some of the rock band posters.  Gotta love that 'loose women' notice in lower left in above picture.  They make a fine pizza.