Tag Archives: gold

Afternoon in Virginia City

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Around Town

This “western” style town is a short thirty minute drive from downtown Reno.

A very winding road takes you about 1500 feet above Reno where you’ll have a view of the attractive high plains landscape.

Then you’ll immediately see the town’s historical likeness to a mining town of the past.

One of the first sites you’ll see is the tall, picturesque St Mary in the Mountains Church.

The town maintains the look of the 1800s having storefronts with wooden sidewalks.

There are plenty of shops lining the narrow streets in town.
Inside candy is sold the “old” way from these barrels.
… and they have plenty of souvenirs available that date from earlier decades
Collectors will find plenty of items that might appeal to their liking
We stopped for lunch at one of the many local restaurants – this one with a very interesting name.
And our favorite BBQ was on the menu,
And of course there was time for a little humor remembering the early days of law and order in the old west.
My son often visits this shop for beef jerky. Watch out for fire!

The town was founded in the 1850’s as a mining town because of the discovery of gold and silver known as the Comstock Lode. By the late 1800s the output of the mines fell of and the large population declined.

Some of the older readers may remember a western television program from the 1960s and 1970s called Bonanza. The Cartwright Family owed the fictitious Ponderosa Ranch located near Virginia City.

If you’re in the Reno area, take a ride to see the charm of an old western town.