Welcome to Eureka County, in northern Nevada!
Eureka Main Street, ca. 1870
"Eureka County was created from Lander County on March 1, 1873. Long before any town was established,emigrants were traveling through Eureka County on their way to California. Many journals relate tough times getting across Nevada. Places such as Gravelly Ford were important rest stops for emigrants preparing to cross the dreaded desert.
"The core of Eureka County's history revolves around Eureka, the county seat. While initial mining discoveries were made in 1864, it wasn't until 1870 that Eureka began its impressive production. . . . Towns such as Mineral Hill, Ruby Hill and Vanderbuilt sprang up. Palisade became an important shipping point for virtually all supplies heading south, first for freighters and later for the Eureka and Palisade Railroad.
"The Pony Express has an important page in Eureka County's history. Four original stations were located in the county. . . .
When Eureka faded in the 1890s, the county fell upon quiet times. . ."
-- Shawn Hall, "Romancing Nevada's Past/Ghost Towns and Historical Sites of Eureka, Lander, and White Pine Counties;" University of Nevada Press, Reno, Nevada, 1994.
"Eureka's boom years lasted from 1870-1885. The second most important 19th century city in Nevada after Virginia City, Eureka's population reached almost 9000 by 1878. Her mines and smelters produced $44,000,000 worth of silver, lead and gold by 1885." - Judith K. Winzler and Nancy Peppin, "Eureka Nevada/A History of the Town, Its Boom years 1870-85;" Nevada Humanities Committee, 1982.
Palisade, about 1930
John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, via Roger Colton
In this century, the US Census estimates Eureka County's 2012 population at 2001.
There are three towns in present-day Eureka County - Eureka, Beowawe and Crescent Valley
Map of Northern Nevada - 1895 Map of Eureka Co. (from www.livgenmi.com/1895/)
If you have Eureka County info to share, please contact me ~ Sharon McConnel. My great-grandparents, Donald and Emma MacAskill, lived in Eureka during the boom years, from the 1870's to 1901 - their story. The American history and Genealogy Project (AHGP) is an unincorporated, not-for-profit network of independent sites devoted to History and Genealogy and covering North American Countries and Territories. For more information about our group, including how you can join us, please see AHGP About Page.
Updated 13 April 2016
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