Jackrabbit
Lincoln County, Lincoln County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Jackrabbit. Local legend attributes the discovery to the locator picking up a rock to throw at a jackrabbit and finding himself holding high-grade silver. The JackRabbit District, named for the mine, was located in 1876 by Isaac Newton Garrison. Early mine production of the camp, at one time named Royal City, was about ten tons per day, carrying native silver in flakes, yielding about $40 per ton - sometimes as high as $2,000 per ton. Mineral production declined during the 1880s, but when a fifteen-mile narrow gauge railroad was opened in 1891 between the Jackrabbit Mine and Pioche, mining soon increased. After 1893 the mines fell silent except for several short periods of activity in 1906-1907 and 1912-1914.
Erected by Nevada State Historic Preservation Office
The Story
Local legend says the Jackrabbit lode was found when a prospector reached for a rock to throw at a jackrabbit and came up holding high-grade silver. Located in 1876 by Isaac Newton Garrison, the district — its camp once called Royal City — shipped about ten tons of silver-bearing ore a day, occasionally assaying as high as $2,000 per ton. Production sagged in the 1880s but revived after an 1891 narrow-gauge railroad linked the mine to Pioche, before the mines fell largely silent after 1893.
Why it matters
Jackrabbit shows how a rail connection could breathe new life into a fading silver camp, tying isolated Great Basin mines into the wider industrial economy.
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Related people
- · Isaac Newton Garrison
Themes & tags
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