Markers: 6

Mineral

Envision our state motto, "Battle Born" underscoring the portrait of a dusty way stop in the desert. This is Mineral County. Its streets, customs, and even its celebrations represent the nickname given to it: "America's Patriotic Home." Hawthorne specializes in the frequent passer-by as well as the occasional overnighter. A short thirty minutes north you can plan on a night under the stars along Walker Lake. We can retreat westward into the Wassuk Range and the Bodie Hills for some excellent runs with Ma Nature. If you happen to be a hardened desert rat you can have your pick of a thousand spots anywhere in the hills along 95. Mineral invites the appreciative adventurer.

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See the description on the map below for each marker's locals' tips and tricks!

- 16 - Mineral County

"Jedediah Smith, first American into Nevada, passed here in 1829 during his remarkable trip across the state."

- 60 - Hawthorne

"Townsite selected in 1880 as a division and distribution point for the new railroad."

- 92 - Candelaria & Metallic City

"Candelaria was presumably named after the Catholic Candlemas Day."

- 154 - Belleville

"Founded in 1873, Belleville flourished by milling the ore from the Northern Belle Mine at Candelaria."

- 183 - Walker River Reservation

"Agent Calvin Bateman reported on August 31, 1874 that the reservation "is the home of at least six hundred Pah-Utes."

- 237 - Carson and Colorado Railroad Freight Depot

This building, the first to be constructed in Hawthorne, is the remnant of the narrow-gauge Carson & Colorado Railroad built south from Mound House in 1881.

The Rush to Esmerelda

Three prospectors, bitter by bouts of defeat, wandered thirty miles east from Monoville, California to a small basin in the Wassuk Range. The men found a ledge of silver and several veins of gold floating on the surface of the mountains some thirteen miles east of Bodie, California. The men staked several claims right then and there and christened the ground, "Aurora! Goddess of the Dawn!" It took only weeks for word to spread of their find. News of the fabulous diggings spread north to Virginia City and west over the Sierra Nevada to several camps in California's Gold Country. "The Rush to Esmerelda" (sic.) was on!

In 1861, Aurora surpassed its status as a town within weeks and in the course of a year boomed into a full-fledged city. Along its line to the Owens Valley, the Carson & Colorado Railroad (C&C) completed a spur line and major depot at Aurora. Six hundred excited residents called Aurora home including one young man by the name of Samuel Clemens who worked briefly as a miner - that is, until he found his new fortune picking up a pen. It was here in this unassuming mining town that the name "Mark Twain" was born.

90% of Mineral County residents live within five miles of US 95.

Founded: December 22, 1911
Size: 3,813 sq. mi.
Rank: 12th out of 17
Population: 4,388 (2022)
Rank: 14th out of 17
Density: 1 sq. mi.
Rank: 14th out of 17
Largest Community: Hawthorne (2,686)
County Seat: Hawthorne (2,686)
Highest Point: Mt. Grant (11,280')

Known for:
Walker Lake State Recreation Area, Mineral County Ammunitions Museum, Rawhide Mining District