Fairview 1905 – 1917
Churchill County, Churchill County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Fairview 1905 – 1917. Fairview was part of the renewed interest in mining, triggered by the strikes in Tonopah and Goldfield. Discoveries in 1905 of a rich silver float led to a boom that lasted through 1906 1907. A substantial town that boasted 27 saloons, hotels, banks, assay offices, a newspaper, a post office, and a miner’s union hall soon came into being. By 1908, the boom had passed and production leveled out. During 1911, the Nevada Hills Mining Company began an era of profitable milling that lasted until 1917. Production amounted to 3.8 million dollars in silver values.George Wingfield and George Nixon, prominent Nevada mining promoters of the time, bought some of the first claims in Fairview to give impetus to a boom.
Erected by Nevada State Historic Preservation Office
The Story
Fairview rose out of the same wave of optimism that Tonopah and Goldfield set off, when an 1905 strike of rich silver float sparked a rush that peaked across 1906–1907. At its height the town claimed 27 saloons, hotels, banks, assay offices, a newspaper, and a miners' union hall. The first frenzy soon passed, but the Nevada Hills Mining Company sustained profitable milling from 1911 to 1917, drawing $3.8 million in silver — with prominent promoters George Wingfield and George Nixon among the early backers.
Why it matters
Fairview shows how a handful of well-connected financiers turned desert silver strikes into short-lived boomtowns that briefly anchored Nevada's early-1900s mining economy.
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Related people
- · George Wingfield
- · George Nixon
Themes & tags
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