Goldfield Things to Do Tips by atufft Top 5 Page for this destination

More Goldfield Hotel Images

The size of this building, and the vacant attempts to renovate it deserve more images. The backside includes an a/c shaft and improved elevator system, neither of which are operational. Also, there's a US Geological Survey marker retrofit to the main entrance flooring. The building is believed to sit on an old mine shaft. Finally, note the interior shot, where 2x4 lumber is used to support the structure.

Blake/Fellis House

The white house behind the bright red Santa Fe Motel and Saloon sign, on the corner of Crook and 5th Avenues, is a house originally built by real-estate broker EE Blake in 1907. in 1919 it was purchased and was moved to its current location by Peter Fellis, who lived in there and operated a candy store from this great location in the center of town, not far from the high school. George and Peter Fellis were prominent grocers who expanded the confectionary and grocery business into a larger building that burned down in the 1924 fire. This house, however, survived both fires.

Misc Wood Frame Houses on Franklin

These two unidentified wood frame residential ruins on Franklin Ave, across from the Dusty Fender Grill and Fill gas station and restaurant, are circa (left to right) 1905 and 1908. It's amazing these didn't burn down in the great fires of 1923 and 1924, or haven't burned since then...

Brown & Parker Auto Company Garage

This early Ford Dealership, that served Goldfield for many years, moved to the corner of Crook Avenue and Columbia, just across from the Goldfield Hotel, in 1924, just a year after the devastating fire of 1923.

The Other Remaining Bottle House

On the east side of Crook Avenue (US 95) between First and Second Streets, about midway between the Goldfield Hotel and the Goldfield Public Library, is the ruin of a bottle house built in 1905, one of two bottle houses to remain from the Goldfield boom era. I noticed some effort to prop it up from eventual collapse.

Yucca Mountain Project Public Information

South Down Crook Avenue from the Courthouse is a rather new structure built for the purpose of promoting the Yucca Mountain project. I don't know if this is for local residents or for the benefit of tourists, but Goldfield is actually not too close to Yucca Mountain. However, it has been chosen as the site for a public outreach office. See the link below for details about this supposedly stable underground nuclear waste storage facility within the salt cave mountain.

The website notes that currently awaiting permanent geologic disposal are roughly 64,000 metric tons of spent reactor fuel in temporary storage at 120 operating and shut-down commercial nuclear power reactors in 36 states. In addition, there are the thousands of containers of highly radioactive waste arising from the cleanup of nuclear weapons production sites in Washington, South Carolina, and Idaho. Thus, Yucca Mountain could potentially receive all the nuclear waste produced within the USA.

Originally, Nevada residents were enthusiastic about the prospect for jobs associated with such long term storage; however since the waste would have to travel by truck and rail through the Reno/Sparks and Los Vegas/Henderson metropolitan areas, a potential risk to residents along the transport route was exposed, turning Nevada voter sentiment has turned against the project.

Also, while the Bush administration had approved the site for nuke waste storage, the Obama administration has reversed this plan, so the project seems less likely to be completed.

Website: http://www.esmeraldanvnuke.com/

Charles S Sprague House

Built in 1907, Sprague came to Goldfield as an established newspaperman ready to buy and expand the success of the Goldfield News. The house is known as "The Gables", where Mrs. Blanche Sprague, descendent of Mayflower Ship passengers John Alden and Miles Standish, founded the Nevada branch of the Daughters of the American Revolution (1910). Note also in this series of images the original wooden street sign at the corner of Crook and Sundog Avenues.

DD Carney and John S Cook Houses

The house prominently featured in this series of photos, with the Dutch barn style roof, was built and lived in by early resident D.D. Carney (1908). The less well captured white house, slightly further south on Crook, actually on the corner of Crook and Belleview Avenues (behind the pedestrian sign in the photo) was built by prominent central Nevada banker, John S Cook in 1906. Ironically, while Cooks fledgling bank was the only Goldfield bank to survive the National Panic of 1907, and later grew into a powerful financial institution with several branches, it failed in 1932 during the Great Depression.

Jennie B Elder House and Beets Garage

On the Crook Ave lots just south of the County Courthouse building are the Jennie B Elder House (1908) and the rusty old Beets Garage (1930).

G. L. "Tex" Rickard House

Located one block south of the Goldfield Fire Station #1, on the corner of Crook and and Franklins Avenues, Rickard built this house in 1906. It remains as are residence and better preserved home in Goldfield. "Tex" Rickard was mine owner, saloon owner, and boxing promoter who eventually went on to manage Madison Square Gardens in New York City.

Rickard is famous for having sponsored in an outdoor venue within Goldfield what was to become the world's longest boxing match--the 1906 Gans-Nelson Prize Fight. There's a stone marker for this 42 round fight near the ruins of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Passenger Railroad Station, on the north end of town, on Miners Avenue. This was a match between world title holding Dane "Battling" Nelson, and former world champion black Joe Gans. Wikipedia describes the fight as follows: [Nelson] defended the title once against Terry McGovern but then faced former champion Joe Gans on September 3, 1906, in Goldfield, Nevada. Gans dropped Nelson repeatedly during the bout, but could not knock him out. Finally, in the forty-second round, Nelson hit Gans low and was disqualified, losing the bout and his title.

Believe it or not there's a black & white movie of this fight available on YouTube which you can access with the link below. I'm not absolutely positive that this is the same 42 round fight that was fought in Goldfield, but it does look like an outdoor even in the sun, which is what the Goldfield event was. I'll have to get a photo of the historical stone marker next time I drive through town.

Other Contact: http://youtu.be/qwE-G2AaRF8

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battling_Nelson