Candelaria and Metallic City
Mineral County, Mineral County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Candelaria And Metallic City. The ghost towns of Candelaria and Metallic City are seven miles west of here.Candelaria was reported to be named after a mine of the same name, located in the mid-1860s, and is derived from the Catholic Church’s Candelmas Day. Metallic City lies ¾ mile to the south of Candelaria.In 1880, Candelaria was the largest town in the immediate area and boasted three doctors, three lawyers, two hotels, six stores, and ten saloons. Water piped from Pinchower Creek and Trail Canyon in the mid to late-1880s caused the price of water to drop from $1.00 to $0.05 per gallon.The leading mine, the Northern Belle, was first located in 1864, but was not developed until 1870. It is reported to have produced an estimated $7 million, mainly in silver.
Erected by Mineral County Antique Bottle Club
The Story
Seven miles west lie the ghost towns of Candelaria and Metallic City, born of the silver mines opened in this district in the 1860s. Candelaria — its name drawn from a mine and ultimately the Catholic feast of Candlemas — grew by 1880 into the area's largest town, with three doctors, three lawyers, two hotels, six stores, and ten saloons. Its leading mine, the Northern Belle, was located in 1864 and developed after 1870 to yield an estimated $7 million, chiefly in silver, and piped-in water eventually dropped the price from a dollar to a nickel a gallon.
Why it matters
Candelaria and Metallic City are quintessential Nevada silver camps whose rise and abandonment tell the boom-and-bust story that built and emptied the mining West.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Columbus
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Columbus took root on the edge of a salt marsh in 1865, when a quartz mill rose at the only spot for miles with water enough to run it. Its real fortune arrived in 1871, when William Troop discovered borax on the marsh and four companies rushed in to work the deposits. At its 1875 peak the town held around 1,000 people, a post office, and a newspaper aptly named The Borax Miner — but once the borax played out, Columbus faded, all but abandoned by the early 1880s.
Belleville
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Founded in 1874 by Alsop J. Holmes, Belleville sprang up to mill ore from his Northern Belle Mine at Candelaria, shipping its first bullion bar in 1875. When the Carson and Colorado Railroad reached town in 1881, Belleville's population peaked near five hundred, supporting hotels, restaurants, a schoolhouse, and seven saloons. But once pipelines carried water directly to Candelaria's own mills in the late 1880s, the town lost its purpose and stood deserted by 1892.
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