Virginia City Historic District

Infobox_nrhp | name =Virginia City Historic District
nrhp_type =nhld

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caption =
location= Virginia City, Nevada, USA
locmapin = Nevada
area =
built =1859
architect= Unknown
architecture= Bungalow/craftsman, Late Victorian
designated= July 4, 1961cite web |url= http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=322&ResourceType=District
title=Virginia City Historic District |accessdate=2008-01-23|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = October 15, 1966cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Local
refnum=66000458

Virginia City Historic District, in Virginia City, Nevada, USA, was created by declaration of a National Historic Landmark in 1961, one of only six in the state of Nevada. Besides Virginia City, the district includes the former mining villages of Dayton, Gold Hill, and Silver City. citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000458.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Virginia City Historic District] |1.28 MB|date=April 21, 1978 |author=Charles Snell and Marilynn Larew |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/66000458.pdf "Accompanying 50 or so photos from 1968, 1971, 1978 and other dates."] |8.81 MB]

Virginia City was the prototype for future frontier mining boom towns, with its industrialization and urbanization. [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/nevada/vhd.htm Virginia Historic District -Three Historic Nevada Cities: Carson City, Reno and Virginia City-A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary ] ] It owed its success to the 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode. It is laid out in a grid pattern 1,500 feet below the top of Mount Davidson. Most of the buildings are two to three story brick buildings, with the first floors used for saloons and shops. From its creation to 1875, there were five widespread fires. The October 25, 1875 fire, dubbed the Great Fire of 1875, caused $12,000,000 in damages. It was the first silver rush town, and the first to intensely apply large-industrial mining methods. [Snell and Larew, pg.2, 5, 7]

After a year in existence, the boomtown had 42 saloons, 42 stores, 6 restaurants, 3 hotels, and 868 dwellings to house a town residency of 2,345. At its height in 1863, the town had 15,000 residents. From its creation in 1859 to 1875, there were five widespread fires. The 1875 fire, dubbed the Great Fire of 1875, caused $12,000,000 in damages. [Snell and Larew, pg.2, 8, 9]

Prominent buildings include:
*Storey County Courthouse - Built after the 1875 fire, the rectangular brick building is still in use.
*Fourth Ward School - now a community center, it was a school from its construction in 1876 to 1936.
*St. Mary's in the Mountain Catholic Church & St. Paul's Episcopal Church - Built in 1876, both churches still have services. St. Mary's is a Basilican structure
*First Presbyterian Church - built in 1867, it is one of the few buildings built before the Great Fire that still stands today.
*"Territorial Enterprise" - built in 1862, Mark Twain once worked in the building. [Snell and Larew, pgs 2-4]

Today, Virginia City is but a shadow of its former glory, however, it still draws over 2 million visitors per year. In 2004 its condition was considered "threatened". One reason is that an inactive mining pit may cause some of the buildings that make up the historic nature of the district to slide into the pit. The cemeteries are constantly vandalised and are in danger of erosion. Continued use of the district for tourism is harming those historical buildings still in use, and neglect of privately-held unused buildings increases the damage to the district.

References

External links

*Photos of numerous Virginia City, Nevada buildings and structures are available by [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/hhquery.html searching HABS/HAER here] , at Historic American Buildings Survey