Audiences are compelled to step back in time with a visit to Virginia City, Nevada. This former mining town was one of the most important frontier boomtowns of the American West in the late 19th century. This history has been preserved all across the Virginia City Historic District, highlighting what it can mean to create experiences by connecting eras and legacies.
From Boomtown to Historic District
The 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode, the first major high-grade ore deposit discovery in the United States, enabled the creation of Virginia City. What had been just a few tents and glorified cabins developed into a city virtually overnight, culminating in a population of 25,000 in 1873. All of this development defined the city’s reputation as a boomtown, but by 1879, the mines showed signs of decline, causing many to leave. The modern population of Virginia City is under 1,000.
The history of the boomtown era has been preserved across a collection of over 400 buildings in the Virginia City Historic District. Many date back to the 19th century, and the entire District maintains the look and feel of a 19th and early 20th-century western mining town. This is defined by the board sidewalks and establishments like the Bucket of Blood Saloon and Fourth Ward School Museum. Numerous museums, shops, hotels, and saloons that are directly or indirectly connected to this boomtown era are located all across the Virginia City Historic District.
The landmarks that define the Virginia City Historic District can be experienced individually or collectively and can be customized depending on the visitor’s interests and timing. Annual festivals attract audiences from across the region, while the frequent walking and stagecoach tours provide audiences with experiences that are as unique as they are memorable. Various merchandise and products that celebrate this era are sold across the city.
Few landmarks contain this kind of variety that is spread across an entire city, highlighting what it can mean to create a place that appeals to preservationists, to entrepreneurs and for audiences from across a region and beyond.
Preserving History and Connecting Eras
The National Park Service has designated the entire city as a National Historic Landmark, while members of the modern community are committed to connecting the past to the future. Doing so has created opportunities for Virginia City and across the region by actively holding onto the history that would have otherwise have been lost to time, highlighting what it can mean to enable opportunities across eras and communities.
