Wonder
Churchill County, Churchill County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Wonder. Located 13 miles to the north is the camp of Wonder, a major mining center in the early years of the 20th Century. Thomas J. Stroud and several others made the first locations in April 1906, and later that year, the Wonder Mining District was organized.Wonder’s boom from 1906 to 1915 was brief, but spectacular. Stores and saloons were in operation by mid-summer 1906, and a school was begun in 1907. Bench Creek provided water for the camp and an ice plant and a swimming pool made lire somewhat more bearable. During a brief span of years, the Nevada Wonder Mining Company produced some $6 million in silver, gold, copper, and zinc.Wonder’s most prominent native daughter is Eva Adams (1908-1991), Administrative Assistant to Senator Patrick A. McCarran for many and the second woman appointed as the Director of the U.S. Mint during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.
Erected by Daughters Of The American Colonists
The Story
Thirteen miles north lies Wonder, a silver camp born in the 1906 rush that followed Nevada's Tonopah and Goldfield strikes. Between 1906 and 1915 it flared brightly — stores, saloons, a school, an ice plant, and even a swimming pool eased life in the desert while the Nevada Wonder Mining Company drew some $6 million in silver, gold, copper, and zinc from the ground. Wonder's most notable native was Eva Adams (1908–1991), a longtime aide to Senator Patrick McCarran who became the second woman to direct the U.S. Mint.
Why it matters
Wonder captures the boom-and-bust rhythm of early-twentieth-century Nevada mining, and in Eva Adams it links a remote camp to the corridors of national power.
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Related people
- · Thomas J. Stroud
- · Eva Adams
- · Patrick A. McCarran
Themes & tags
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