Pioche

Pioche was the meanest town in a mean era. Silver was found in 1864 and the rush came in 1869, and through the 1870s the camp was famous for gunmen and lawsuits in equal measure — the local boast being that seventy-five men were buried before anyone died of natural causes. More than five million dollars came out by 1872; by 1900 it was nearly a ghost. It held on as Lincoln County's seat, home to the Million Dollar Courthouse — built for seventy-five thousand dollars and not paid off, through compounding debt, until 1937.

What the plaque says

Silver ore was discovered in this range of mountains in 1864, but no important development took place until 1869 when mines were opened and the town of Pioche appeared. Pioche soon became the scene of a wild rush of prospectors and fortune seekers and gained a reputation in the 1870's for tough gunmen and bitter lawsuits. Over five million dollars in ore was taken out by 1872, and by 1900 Pioche was nearly a ghost town. Designated as the seat of Lincoln County in 1871, Pioche survived hard times as a supply and government center of a vast area. In later years, notably during World War II, profitable lead-zinc deposits were developed.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Pioche — 0.3 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.
• Cathedral Gorge State Park — 7.7 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.

More markers nearby

• Bullionville — 8.6 mi
• Panaca Spring — 9.7 mi
• Panaca Mercantile — 9.9 mi
• Panaca Ward Chapel — 10.0 mi