Bonnie Clare was established in October 1906 as a milling center for several nearby mines. By 1914 the decline on the near by mines signaled the end of this town. In 1925 a Chicago millionaire named Albert Mussey began construction of vacation home 20 miles from Bonnie Claire. The project gained notoriety for Johnson's partnership with Death Valley Scotty, a prospector who captured headlines for years with tales of a rich gold mine hidden in Death valley. From 1925 to 1928 all items involved in the construction job arrived at Bonnie Claire railroad station. The home was never finished and is now known as Scotty's Castle.

A small camp began to form in the Bonnie Clare district in the 1880s when a stamp mill was built at a site known then as Thorp’s Wells. The mill handled ore from three major mines all located near Gold Mountain six miles to the northwest. The mill operated into the twentieth century and the Bonnie Clare Bullfrog Mining Company purchased it soon after the turn of the century. In 1904 another mill was built, the Bonnie Clare, to treat ore from all over the district. The camp continued to function at a slow level until September of 1906 when it received a big boost when the Bullfrog-Goldfield Railroad reached Thorp. The Bullfrog-Goldfield Railroad station was known as Montana Station. The residents did not like that name and when a new townsite was platted in October 1906 the town was renamed Bonnie Clare. Soon after the arrival of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad, Bonnie Clare reached its peak. Mining activity continued until the railroad folded in 1928 and life quickly ebbed out of Bonnie Clare. There was some minor activity during the period from 1940 to 1954 but Bonnie Clare has been abandoned ever since. The ruins at the site are most interesting and are well worth the trip.

Submitted by: Shawn Hall from his book Preserving The Glory Days: Ghost Towns And Mining Camps Of Nye County, Nevada Click here to purchase his book!