Delamar, “The Widow Maker” 1893-1909

Delamar earned its nickname honestly. Gold turned up in 1890, Captain Joseph De Lamar bought the claims in 1893, and the camp boomed to three thousand on wages high enough to pull Mormon farm boys from St. George and Cornish miners from California. But the gold was locked in quartzite, and crushing it dry threw off a fine silica dust that scarred lungs and killed slowly — "Delamar dust," the widow-maker, blamed for hundreds of deaths before wet milling arrived. The mines gave up some twenty-five million dollars in gold and closed in 1909.

What the plaque says

John and Olivia Ferguson discovered gold twelve miles south of here around 1891. The original name of the camp they established was Ferguson. However, it was eventually renamed "Delamar” after John DeLamar, an entrepreneur who bought the best mining claims in 1893 for $150,000. Eventually, over 1500 residents settled in this isolated place. The town contained a newspaper, hospital, school, churches, saloons, stores, a theater and professionals. Entertainment included brass bands, dance orchestras, and stage attractions at the opera house. Water came from Meadows Valley Wash 12 miles away. All other materials were hauled through the mountains by mule team 150 miles from a railroad head at Millard, Utah. For 16 years, most of the bullion was hauled out in the same manner. The dry milling processes used prior to the introduction of wet methods created a fine silica dust, or “death” dust, causing the deaths of many residents and gave the town its nickname, “The Widow Maker". Delamar produced $25,000,000 in gold and was Nevada’s leading producer at the turn of the twentieth century.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Cathedral Gorge State Park — 25 mi
  A drained ancient lakebed eroded into buff-colored spires and narrow slot "caves" — one of Nevada's first state parks, and the gentle, otherworldly counterweight to the Silver Trails' ghost towns.
• Pioche — 28 mi
  The silver camp that, by legend, out-killed the Old West — Boot Hill's boots-on graves, the graft-ridden Million-Dollar Courthouse, and an aerial tramway still slung over Main Street.

More markers nearby

• Union Pacific Depot 1923 — 15 mi
• Caliente — 15 mi
• Hiko — 24 mi
• Crystal Springs — 25 mi