Austin
Lander County, Lander County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Austin. Austin sprang into being after William Talcott discovered silver at this spot on May 2, 1862. Talcott came from Jacobsville, a stage stop six miles to the west on the Reese River. He was hauling wood out of Pony Canyon, directly below, when he made the strike that set off the famous “Rush to Reese.” A town called Clifton flourished briefly in Pony Canyon but fast growing Austin soon took over and became the Lander County seat in 1863. Before the mines began to fail in the 1880s Austin was a substantial city of several thousand people. From Austin, prospectors fanned out to open many other important mining camps in the Great Basin.
Erected by Nevada State Historic Preservation Office
The Story
Austin sprang to life after William Talcott struck silver here on May 2, 1862, while hauling wood out of Pony Canyon below — a find that set off the famous "Rush to Reese." The nearby camp of Clifton flared briefly, but fast-growing Austin overtook it and became the Lander County seat in 1863, swelling into a substantial city of several thousand before its mines began to fail in the 1880s. From this high Great Basin outpost, prospectors fanned out to open many other important mining camps across central Nevada.
Why it matters
Austin was a launching point for the settlement of central Nevada, the kind of silver boomtown whose prospectors seeded a whole constellation of mining camps across the Great Basin frontier.
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Related people
- · William Talcott
Related events
- · Rush to Reese
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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