Beschreibung:

anonymous albumen image, circa 1880. Engine, about a dozen ore cars and cars stacked with wood from the hills, presumably headed for the furnaces. The Ruby Hill mines were first discovered in 1869, although some say it was Indians who knew of the location, rather than a geological "discovery." Soon a camp began to form around the mines, growing as more mines were opened in the Ruby Hill District. By 1875 the first railroad was completed, 3 miles long and 3 feet wide, the "3X3". The railroad also formed a big "X" - from Eureka Consolidated Mines (the E.C.M.Co. on the sides of the ore cars in this photo) on the south leg on Ruby Hill to the furnaces on the north side of Eureka, and the Richmond Companies mines on the north leg on Ruby Hill to the furnaces on the south side of Eureka. A (real) desert storm washed away much of the railroad in 1910, effectively ending the life of the town. But the population had been declining since the mid-1880s as mine production decreased. By the turn of the century, it was only a matter of time, with barely 700 residents remaining from a peak of over 2,500 in the late 1870s. [For further information: Myrick, David. Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California. University of Nevada Press, 1992. And "Ghost Town Seekers: Remote Nevada" (www.robertwynn.com/Ruby.htm) Also "Ghosttowns.com"] Provenance: The Thomas Minckler Collection of Western Americana Condition: Very light, slightly soft focus.