Town of the Week

Tonopah, Nevada
November 11, 2000

Head over to Tonopah, Nevada; just listen in.

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If you listen closely, you can still hear the ringing echo of pick axe on stone in this week's western mining town. A century ago this year, rancher and part-time prospector Jim Butler discovered rich veins of silver in an area of south central Nevada. Butler and his wife, Belle, struck it rich with three mines, one of which is located beneath the Mizpah Hotel in Tonapah. The hotel, which had its grand opening in 1908, is where Howard Hughes married Jean Peters. The Mizpah remains a fine hotel and casino today, where modern day miners gamble in yesteryear's surroundings.

Tonapah is an Indian word for "little wood, little water", while Mizpah is a name of biblical origin often used for a gathering place. In today's world, the total take in gold and silver from the Tonapah, Nevada mining area totals 2.75 billion dollars, and is being added to daily from the round mountain gold mine, and the equatorial copper mine. Located halfway between Las Vegas and Reno, visitors to Tonapah are captivated by the town's Historic Mining Park and Central Nevada Museum, which pay tribute to the boom days of the early 1900s. The most significant building in town is the Nye County Courthouse, a huge yellow stone structure high on a bluff on the east side of Tonapah.

This is a town of 3,000 people, and the home of the high school Muckers where Jim Butler days are celebrated each July. Known as the Queen of the Silver Camps, it's our town of the week, Tonapah, Nevada.