Eureka

The name is the story — a miner shouting "Eureka!" over rich ore in September 1864. What he'd found became the first important lead-silver deposits in the country, and by the 1880s the boom had stacked sixteen smelters, more than a hundred saloons, and ten thousand people into this narrow valley, with the Eureka & Palisade Railroad running ninety miles north to meet the main line. Production faltered after 1883 and the smelters fell silent by 1891. The slag dumps at both ends of Main Street are what the fire left behind.

What the plaque says

“Eureka!” a miner is said to have exclaimed in September, 1864, when the discovery of rich ore was made here, and thus the town was named. Eureka soon developed the first important lead-silver deposits in the nation and during the furious boom of the 80's had 16 smelters, over 100 saloons, a population of 10,000 and a railroad, the colorful Eureka and Palisade that connected with the main line 90 miles to the north. Production began to fall off in 1883 and by 1891 the smelters closed, their sites marked by the huge slag dumps seen at both ends of Main Street. Nevada Centennial Marker No. 11

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Eureka — 0.9 mi
  The Pittsburgh of the West, reborn — the best-preserved town on the loneliest road, with an 1880 opera house and a working 1879 courthouse

More markers nearby

• Tannehill Cabin — 0.2 mi
• Eureka Courthouse — 0.9 mi
• Eureka Sentinel Building — 0.9 mi
• The Eureka Mining District Producing Ore Since 1864 — 4.3 mi