Washoe City - Nevada Ghost Town

WASHOE CITY

NAME: Washoe City
COUNTY: Washoe
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 4
CLIMATE: Mild Winter, warm summer.
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime.

COMMENTS: Near Reno. Fenced off. No access.
REMAINS: Many original buildings.

Smelters and sawmills to serve mining camps on both sides of the High Sierras were the two reasons Washoe City came into being. It did just that at the foot of Mt. Davidson during 1860-1861 when the first buildings were constructed. During the next few years, a few sawmills were producing lumber for the booming Virginia City. Population by that time reached 2,500. Smelters were busy refining ore brought in from Virginia City and other mining camps spread along the slopes of the Sierras. When shipments of ore to Washoe City began to decline along with the demand for lumber, the end was in sight, its reason for being gone. The final blow came in 1871 when the prestige of being the county seat was removed and transferred to Reno, a few miles north of Washoe City. Nearby is the imposing mansion of Sandy and Orrum Bowers whose story is told in the brief history of Gold Hill. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.	Washoe Courtesy Dolores Steele Washoe Courtesy Dolores Steele Washoe Courtesy Dolores Steele Washoe Courtesy Dolores Steele

Smelters and sawmills to serve mining camps on both sides of the High Sierras were the two reasons Washoe City came into being. It did just that at the foot of Mt. Davidson during 1860-1861 when the first buildings were constructed. During the next few years, a few sawmills were producing lumber for the booming Virginia City. Population by that time reached 2,500. Smelters were busy refining ore brought in from Virginia City and other mining camps spread along the slopes of the Sierras. When shipments of ore to Washoe City began to decline along with the demand for lumber, the end was in sight, its reason for being gone. The final blow came in 1871 when the prestige of being the county seat was removed and transferred to Reno, a few miles north of Washoe City. Nearby is the imposing mansion of Sandy and Orrum Bowers whose story is told in the brief history of Gold Hill. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.

Washoe
Courtesy Dolores Steele

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