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Nevada is something of a late-comer to the contiguous USA, only becoming a state in 1864. And there was some fairly straightforward logic behind that: Nevada is high, Nevada is dry, and Nevada is empty. The only reason it was on the map was because it was on the way to California.
And then some lucky folks discovered the Comstock Load, one of the biggest silver strikes in history. Suddenly, that high, dry, empty space on the map on the way to California became VERY important.
So important, in fact, it turned Nevada into a state of its own — it was actually a part of Utah (eek). Miners from across the planet descended in a swarm and being a practical bunch, they built from scratch a town right over the silver, and this is how Virginia City was born. It was one of a dozen or so mining settlements that rose out of the desert, riding a wave of silver, or gold, or even borax, before the vein tapped out and the term “ghost town” was invented.
The Comstock, too, petered away, but Virginia City did, and did not, go the way of its counterparts. The town very much lives on, but all new buildings and construction of its heyday stopped. When the miners up and left, the town, its storefronts and streets, froze in time. In other words, to go to “VC” is to pole vault over 100 years back to the Victorian Age. Take away the phone wires and asphalt and you would have a serious “Doctor Who” moment.
But for those headed to nearby Reno and Lake Tahoe, Virginia City is, if you will pardon the pun, a gold mine. What other town in America has races involving camels, ostriches, and outhouses? Or ghosts in almost EVERY SINGLE saloon, mansion, and mine? Or one of the best oyster fries in the West? You gotta hand it to the town; it not only is it amazingly busy, it is not going to vanish into history without a fight. Good for them.
The best way to see the town, and its cemetery (!) is drive in, park the car, and hoof it. The saloons (real ones!) offer run-downs of their rollicking histories — it may strike you that the “virgin” part of the city name is not without some irony — and the hotels are all old-school glam. Really old-school.
And for all you Old West fetishists, miners are just as butch as cowboys.
For more information, go to visitvirginiacitynv.com. Contact Steele Luxury Travel for all of your Nevada booking needs. https://steeletravel.com