Pioche, Nevada Main Street by Kathy Alexander.
Once one of the wildest towns in the American West, Pioche, Nevada, is Lincoln County’s county seat.
William Hamblin
This region was originally home to the Southern Paiute and Western Shoshone. In 1863, William Hamblin, a Mormon scout and missionary, befriended a Paiute Indian named Moroni, who showed him a piece of glittering ore. Moroni called the good specimen of silver ore “panacker.”
Hamblin continued scouting, took samples from several other locations, and sent them to Salt Lake City, Utah. The Mormons then sent several expeditions. The first expedition, in April 1864, was made by J. M. Vandermark and Stephen Sherwood, who, along with William Hamblin, organized the Meadow Valley Mining District.
The next month, Francis Lee and six other Mormon families moved from Santa Clara, Utah, to Meadow Valley, where they established an agricultural settlement of Panaca. Soon, they opened a silver mine, drawing in numerous prospectors.
When first settled in 1864, the area was still a part of Utah Territory. However, that changed when Nevada officially became a state in October 1864.
Approximately 60 miles West of Meadow Valley, the Pahranagat Mining District was formed in 1865, and William H. Raymond and John H. Ely moved a mill from Los Angeles, California, to process the ore.
Though the future looked prosperous, some settlers abandoned the area when local Indian tribes launched a series of raids and massacres. Other delays came from the Civil War, including the time it took to get mining equipment from San Francisco. Very little work was done between 1864 and early 1868.
The Stockum House in Pioche, Nevada is one of the oldest buildings in the town by Kathy Alexander.
The Stockum House on upper Main Street was built in 1866 and is one of the rare survivors of fires in this area. Over the years, it has served multiple purposes, including a residence, boarding house, hotel, art gallery, and church.
The first provisional Lincoln County seat was established at Crystal Springs but was short-lived. When Governor Henry Blasdel and 20 people left Carson City to organize the county, they found not enough voters. A year later, in 1867, the Lincoln County government was organized in nearby Hiko.
More people came to the area when more discoveries were made in the Ely Mountains near Pioche. Joseph Grange and E. M. Chubard first settled Pioche and erected a small furnace in 1868. However, the project failed, and they soon abandoned the location.
In spring 1868, San Francisco financier Francois Pioche sent Charles E. Hoffman to the area to buy property and mining claims. They built a smelter and incorporated the Meadow Valley Mining Company.
A town sprang up around the claims on the “panacker ledge.” In 1869, P. McCannon, L. Lacour, and A. M. Bush plotted out a townsite, and the town was named Pioche City for Francois Pioche, the San Francisco businessman. Later, it became known as Pioche.
Francis Pioche.
The same year, John H. Ely and William H. Raymond, who had earlier been operating in Pahranagat Valley, arrived in the area. They first ran a five-stamp mill at Hiko, but because the ore from nearby Logan City was low-grade, the mill failed. They then traveled to Panaca, where they hired a few Mormons to haul the mill to a sloping hillside with abundant water between Pioche and Panaca. This site would later become known as Bullionville. An immediate success, they milled their own ore and the Mormons’ and could pay off their debts.
The two men then organized the Raymond & Ely Company. They reorganized and renamed the Meadow Valley District the Ely District in honor of John H. Ely.
However, getting the ore out of the area was difficult. Railroad service for the Pioche district first came in 1868 through Palisade station on the Central Pacific Railroad, 270 miles to the North. This meant an arduous journey by wagon, either with 20-mule teams or ox teams, over challenging mountain passes.
Meadow Valley Mining Company near Pioche, Nevada, 1871.
In the next years, the Meadow Valley Mining Company and the Raymond & Ely Company competed in their rush to find and process silver ore and became great rivals. The Raymond & Ely ore, along with ore from many other claims in the district, was processed at Bullionville. The company treated Meadow Valley ore at a large mill it built about 10 miles northeast of Pioche in Dry Valley, where it sunk a well to obtain water.
Soon, thousands more prospectors and miners drifted into the area and staked claims, sometimes overlapping prior ones.
Alamo Club, Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
One of the first business buildings in Pioche was the Wells Fargo Freight Office and Pioche Bank in the 1860s. In 1901, the building became home to the Alamo Club Bar. Because of the violence that occurred years earlier on Main Street, the bar was nicknamed the “Bucket of Blood Saloon!” Over the years, the building changed hands several times, and though sometimes renamed, it has remained a saloon all these years. The building also held a brothel for many years until 1950, when Lincoln County outlawed them. Now called the Alamo Club & Liquor Outlet, the building still contains the large original bank vault in the rear. It is located at 723 Main Street.
By the early 1870s, Pioche had become the largest and most important silver-mining town in southeastern Nevada, with an estimated population of 10,000 by 1871. That year, the county seat was moved from Hiko to Pioche in February. It remains there today.
The Pioche mines produced $600,000 in 1870, and the following year, that number jumped to $3,600,000. The banner year was 1872, with $5,500,000. Amongst the mines, Raymond and Ely lead the way.
The “Million Dollar” courthouse in Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
The city immediately began building what became known as the “Million-Dollar Courthouse.” Edward Danahue designed it in the Classical Revival style, to be built of brick and stone. The original plan budgeted $26,400 for the courthouse and jail. However, from the beginning, local politicians produced “cost overruns,” made alterations, mismanaged the project, and were said to have taken kickbacks. They also delayed payments, and interest mounted.
The courthouse was completed in 1872 for $88,000, far exceeding the initial estimates and budget. The town refinanced the original loan repeatedly with bonds totaling nearly $1 million. The town didn’t pay off the loan until 1937, four years after the building was condemned. The old courthouse still stands, as does the original town jail, with its 16-inch walls and tiny windows. The jail was so secure that no inmate ever escaped. The building is located on Lacour Street (Highway 93).
One of the worst fires in the West occurred on September 15, 1871. It began in a Main Street restaurant shortly after midnight during a celebration commemorating Mexican independence. It quickly spread to the Felsenthal Store, which had a stone, fireproof cellar where 300 barrels of blasting powder were stored. The intense heat ignited the blasting powder, erupting into an explosion that shot nearly 400 feet into the air. The eruption was so strong it blew a 1,000-pound door clear out of town, showered the community with flaming debris, and left most of the population homeless. It also killed 13 people and injured 47. The destruction was estimated to have cost $500,000.
As thousands of miners and prospectors poured into the area, Pioche soon gained a reputation as one of the “toughest” towns in the West. With guns as the only law, the city’s violence soon overshadowed even that of other booming mining camps such as Bodie, California, and Tombstone, Arizona.
Boothill in Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
Residents were often confused about the exact location of mining claims, so much so that mine owners hired guards and gunfighters to protect them. The gunmen often made as much as $20 per day, which was a large salary at the time but much cheaper for the mine owners than settling disputes in court, where bribery often determined the outcome. The sheriff’s office was worth $40,000 a year in bribes alone.
During this time, it was reported that 75 men died “with their boots on” before anyone in Pioche died of natural causes. Nearly 60 percent of the homicides reported in Nevada during 1871-72 took place in and around Pioche. Many of these outlaws and gunfighters who died by violence are immortalized in Pioche’s Boot Hill. This sectioned-off part of the town’s cemetery is where outlaws were buried separately from respectable folk.
Raymond & Ely Mine, Pioche, Nevada.
In 1872, William Hamblin became an essential witness in court battles between Raymond & Ely and the Hermes Mining Company over control of the camp’s mineral wealth. However, before he could testify, he was administered a lethal drink. After he realized he had been poisoned, he started for home in Gunlock, Utah. However, after reaching Barclay in Clover Valley, he could travel no farther, and he died there. Hamblin was buried in the Barclay cemetery.
Another fire struck the town on May 5, 1872, destroying 12 buildings valued at $50,000.
Despite the violence and tragedies, Pioche was booming, with a population of about 6,000 in 1872. At that time, the city boasted a daily line of six-horse Concord stagecoaches carrying the U. S. Mail and a Wells Fargo express stagecoach that made its way to the Central City Railroad at Palisade, Nevada. The Gilmer & Salisbury stagecoach company also had three daily lines, with two running six-horse Concord coaches to Bullionville.
Wells Fargo Express.
The first independent narrow-gauge railroad in Nevada was built in 1873: the Pioche & Bullionville Railroad, formed to haul ore from the rich Pioche-area mines 20 miles to the milling facilities at Bullionville. Three railroads were also organized to build lines to and from Pioche. These included the Salt Lake, Sevier Valley & Pioche Railroad; the Palisade, Eureka & Pioche Railroad from the north; and another from the South.
Pioche had two telegraph offices — the Western Union to San Francisco and the Desert Telegraph (Brigham’s) through Salt Lake City. The town also had 32 steam hoists that blew a chorus of whistles, a fast freight line running day and night and delivering in five days, its narrow-gauge railroad from Pioche to Bullionville, and two daily newspapers. One of those newspapers was the Pioche Record, which started in May 1870. Today, it is called the Lincoln County Record and is the state’s second-oldest continuously printed weekly newspaper.
Odd Fellows Hall in Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
The city had 72 saloons, three hurdy-gurdy houses, 32 brothels, two theaters, two breweries, two gravity-fed water systems with street mains and fire plugs, two fire companies, and a livery stable maintaining 300 horses.
The Pioche Oddfellows Lodge was built in 1872 and was originally J.J. Halpin’s Hardware Store. Over the years, it has hosted many lodge functions, community dances, parties, and social gatherings.
In 1872, the two great mining rivals were at peak production and continued producing ore abundantly until 1876.
The Orr Garage was built of stone in the early 1870s, probably to use as a blacksmith shop or harness shop. In later years, starting in 1915, it was used as an auto repair garage.
Thompson’s Opera House, Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
In March 1873, Aleck Brown built the Brown Opera House. It was constructed of wood in a classic revival style, using early pioneer board construction. Almost two decades later, it was renamed the Thompson Opera House in April 1892. Years later, it was used as a movie house. However, after the Gem Theater was built next door, the Opera House hosted weekly dances for many years. Today, the Brown/Thompson Opera House stands on Main Street.
On May 3, 1876, another destructive fire ripped through the town, destroying 21 buildings and causing an estimated $40,000 in damage.
By the 1880s, many of the principal mines had shut down, and Pioche’s fortunes had diminished. In the following years, the population rose and fell with surges and downturns in mining and railroad activity.
In 1890, following a slump in mining activity, the Raymond & Ely, Meadow Valley, and Yuba mining companies were merged into the Pioche Consolidated Mining & Reduction Company, with the well-known Salt Lake City magnate William S. Godbe at the helm.
The Pioche Consolidated Mill, also known as the Godbe Mill, was built in 1891 at the site of the original Raymond & Ely No. 1 shaft, just east of Pioche, at a place called West Point. The smelter processed ore for Pioche, Jackrabbit, and other nearby camps. That same year, Pioche Consolidated bought the remaining assets of the abandoned Pioche & Bullionville Railroad in the area and, in 1891, began construction of the Pioche Pacific Railroad, which would serve the Pioche, Jackrabbit, and Bristol mines. The mill burned in 1893 but was quickly rebuilt.
Old Mountain View Hotel in Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
In 1895, the Ely Valley Mines built the Mountain View Hotel to house their guests. It combines “Shingle” and early 1900s “Classic Box” styles. This old hotel served the lodging needs of dignitaries visiting Pioche on court business. President Herbert Hoover is said to have stayed in 1930. No longer serving as a hotel and in need of restoration, the building remains a great example of turn-of-the-century Western architecture. It is located on Main Street next to the old courthouse.
Several buildings were erected at the turn of the century, including the Nevada Club, located on the site of the original Pioche assay office that a fire had destroyed. The structure is constructed of brick, concrete, and stone to reduce fire hazards. Today it is a lively bar on Main Street.
Pioche, Nevada 1906.
The Pioche Hotel dates from about the same time. The hotel operated until the mid-1950s and now serves as a private residence. Next door is the Commerce Cottage, one of several lending libraries in Pioche that commercial establishments operated in the late 1800s. In 1940, the Lincoln County Library system was started by purchasing this building, a jewelry store. It served as a library for ten years. After several years of neglect, this building was refurbished in 1984 to become the Pioche Chamber of Commerce Cottage.
1909 Elementary School in Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
In 1907, Union Pacific Railroad built a standard-gauge railroad line from Caliente to the Pioche Consolidated mill, using some of the former Pioche & Bullionville grades through Condor Canyon. The new rail line allowed cheaper transport of lower-grade ore to mills and smelters in the Salt Lake City area.
In 1909, the Pioche Elementary School opened. Designed in Mission Revival architecture, the building initially contained four classrooms. Additions were made in the 1930s and 1940s, and for years, it was the oldest continually operating school in Nevada. In 1999, a new school was built, but the old mission-style school still stands.
The Combined Metals Reduction Company Mine & Mill was acquired by the Amalgamated Pioche Mines & Smelter Corporation in 1912. In 1913, the Prince Consolidated Mining Company laid rails, allowing ore from the Prince Mine West of Treasure Hill to be transported to the mill. The Amalgamated Pioche Corporations made no developments after 1917.
Godbe’s Mill, Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
In 1923, the property was leased to the Combined Metals Reduction Company, and that year the Godbe Mill was reconfigured into a 250-ton flotation concentrator. In 1926, the mill was processing 4,000 tons a month. It burned again in 1929 but was rebuilt.
Town Hall in Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
Around this time, an aerial tramway was built to transport silver and nickel ore from Treasure Hill to Godbe’s Mill. The Pioche Mines Company built the gravity-operated mill, powered by a five-horse motor.
In 1936, the Mormons began to build a meeting house at Hinman and Main Streets. It was dedicated in 1950 when it was finished and paid for. In 1986, when the new Mormon chapel was built, the old building was sold to the Town of Pioche, which is now the city’s town hall.
Lincoln County Courthouse, Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
In 1938, a new Lincoln County Courthouse was constructed to replace the historic courthouse on the hill. It is a simplified version of the modern Art Deco style, which continues to house almost all of Lincoln County’s government functions. The Sheriff’s Office and Jail were moved North of town, off S.R. 322.
Bob Free built the Overland Hotel & Saloon in 1940. It has been burned and rebuilt several times over its colorful past. It originally had a bowling alley in the basement, and the West half was rented to Allen’s Cash Store for over 30 years. Today, the business is dedicated to keeping the look and feel of the beautiful western saloon of years past, complete with an 1884 hand-carved solid cherrywood Brunswick bar. It is located at 662 Main Street.
Overland Hotel & Saloon, Pioche, Nevada, by Kathy Alexander.
During World War II, an economic boom occurred when profitable lead-zinc deposits were developed. Before long, Pioche was the nation’s second-largest lead and zinc producer. The lead-zinc-silver ore was mined until 1959, totaling 3.2 million tons over the years.
The Pioche Pacific Railroad ran sporadically until 1948, when it was finally abandoned.
In 1950, the last mines and mills closed down, and Pioche soon became a sleepy little town.
Railroad service to Pioche ended in August 1984, when United Pacific Railroad began dismantling its Pioche Branch between Caliente and Pioche.
Pioche Tramway by Dave Alexander.
The Gem Theater continued to show movies until 2003, when high winds blew the roof off, and the owners could not afford to repair it.
The abandoned tramway still stretches over town today, with many original ore buckets intact. Several headframes and mining buildings continue to dot the area, and the old Godbe Mill still stands in the valley behind a fence.
More history awaits on Main Street, where the Lincoln County Museum displays relics from the town’s rich past. A. S. Thompson erected one such building around 1900. After a fire, it was rebuilt once, then remodeled in 1929. It operated as a mercantile and clothing store and was later donated to Lincoln County in 1962 to become a museum.
Old Pioche Firehouse by Kathy Alexander.
Pioche also has several other historic buildings, including the old Pioche Mercantile on Main Street, the old firehouse at the junction of Main and LaCour streets, and the 1869 Masonic Lodge building. Check out Lincoln County Driving Tours Here.
Today, Pioche has little mining activity, and its main focus, as the county seat, is administering Lincoln County government. Other occupations include agriculture, cattle ranching, the railroad, and tourism. The town is home to about 1,000 people.
Nevada’s most notorious and liveliest ghost town is also the gateway to Echo Canyon and Spring Valley State Parks, where visitors can camp, boat, fish, and view wildlife via the Mount Wilson Backcountry Byway or along trailheads on the Silver State ATV Trail.
Pioche is located on U.S. 93, about 93 miles North of Las Vegas.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated September 2026.
Pioche, Nevada Mine by Kathy Alexander.
Also See:
Caliente – Steeped in Railroad History
Pioche Land Jumpers and the Death of Jack Harris
Ghost Towns, Mining Camps, History & More
Sources:
Lincoln County Driving Tour
Lincoln County, Nevada
Nevada Expeditions
Pioche Nevada
Silver State Specialties
Utah Rails