A Stroll through Historic Virginia City
Recently Patrick and I went on a road trip to visit my mom in Idaho, and anyone who knows me knows I love a road trip. While the route was somewhat familiar, as we had done it before, we made a few fresh stops, including spending some time in Virginia City.
Virginia City is similar to the gold rush towns of northern California, but instead of gold, it was silver discovered within the mountains. While the area had many names, legends has it that sometime in the 1850s a miner by the name of James Fenemore, fondly known as “Old Virginia” or “Old Virginny” by his friends, who drunkenly named the town after himself when he fell, breaking a bottle of whiskey, and said “I baptize this ground Virginia.” From then it was called Virginia Town, and later Virginia City.
It was the famous silver Comstock Lode, named after Henry Comstock, discovered in June of 1859 that changed the landscape forever. In the years the followed a classic boomtown was born. Miners poured in from all over, and at its peak, Virginia City had over 25,000 residents, including George Hearst (father to newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst of Hearst Castle fame) and Samuel Clemens, who would go on to use the moniker Mark Twain for the first time while in Virginia City.
While the literal rich history of Virginia City starts in 1859, most of the buildings you walk by date to sometime after 1875, as on October 26, 1875 a fire swept through the town. Lasting five hours, the fire leveled roughly three-quarters of the city, and left 8,000 to 10,000 residents without a home. However the town banded together and in less than a year it was rebuilt.
The streets are filled with a variety of tourist traps, saloons, and elegant homes, each with a story to tell. I was especially enchanted by the Savage Mansion, built in 1861. It is here on the second floor balcony that President Ulysses S. Grant spoke to the town, and afterward there was a parade in his honor.
Virginia City has a lot to offer the history buff as well as seekers of the supernatural, as many of the buildings are said to be haunted. Many spots have been featured on various ghost hunting shows.
Explore Virginia City
Sources
“History” Virginia City.
Newton, Marylin. “It all started in Virginia City.” Reno Gazette Journal, 24 October 2014.
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So many interesting buildings! I haven’t been there since I was on a road trip with my family many years ago. I’m looking forward to learning more about Virginia City.