Virginia City Nevada

At its peak, Virginia City was a thriving, vibrant metropolis of 25,000 residents. Located about 35 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada. Silver and gold was buried deep beneath the streets and men and women traveled from around the world to live and work. Miners pulled millions of dollars from shafts and tunnels 3,000 feet beneath the thriving town. The spirit of those Comstock “originals” still inhabits the places where they once worked, lived, worshiped, educated and died.

The 19th-century mining bonanza that turned Virginia City into the most important industrial city between Denver and San Francisco, was the result of the Comstock Lode. A rich deposit of silver ore discovered by Henry Comstock, part-owner of the property on which it was discovered, in June 1859. Getting his nickname for only making pancakes for breakfast, Henry T. “Pancake” Comstock was referred to as one of the original finders of gold in Gold Canyon, just south of Virginia City. Comstock was said to have been lazy, employing American Indians on his claims, and was a fast-talker. Since he was on the scene of the original findings, his name stuck almost instantly.

It’s one of the only places that you can walk through town and still see and go into buildings and locations that were built in the late 1800s. Some of the Saloons still have bullet holes in the walls from gunfights back in the 1800's.

Boomtown pioneers like the Masons, Pacific Coast Pioneers, Knights of Pythias, Virginia City Firemen, Jewish and Catholic residents, and more formed a total of 14 cemeteries that, today, make up the city’s official Silver Terrace Cemetery.

This cemetery is also extremely haunted and you'll definitely want to bring a camera with you because there are so many breathtaking statues and intricate headstones you'll want to photograph. It’s been noted that strange glowing lights and orbs have been seen floating around many of the older gravesites. Also rumored is the ghostly apparition of an old groundskeeper who wasn’t very friendly. Then there are the stories that tombs have shifted or moved unsuspectedly!

The cemetery is so popular that it offers annual tours around Halloween. There are also self-guided audio tours and you can download an app for this. There are 4,000 people buried at Silver Terrace Cemetery, however, the site only has about 1300 headstones remaining.

There are at least thirteen places in Virginia City that are haunted. The Mackay Mansion is one of them. Comstock Millionaire John Mackay may have made a deal with the devil to save his famous Mackay Mansion while the Great Fire burned nearby areas, the mansion was unharmed. Although the Mansion still remains intact, seven or more spirits have been seen inside or around this mysterious mansion. Mackay’s wife has been heard wandering through the halls, searching for her lost lover.

The Delta Saloon, originally opened in 1865, is one of the oldest, most historic properties in Virginia City. The Delta Saloon and Casino is home to the infamous Suicide Table where heavy gaming losses led to gamblers losing their lives in the height of the mining and milling period. Truth be told, one Black Jake reportedly lost $70,000 in one night before turning a gun on himself. After two more suicides, the table’s name was famous, and the decision to cease dealing on it was made. Today the table is still located in the Delta Saloon, where people can see the deadly table, but to prevent risky gambling it is protected under Plexiglass.

Built in 1870 as a luxury bar called the Millionaire’s Club, the Old Washoe Club was known as an exclusive high-status meeting place for the men in Virginia City. With a brothel up the spiral staircase and a large freezer called “The Crypt,” it is no wonder strange happenings occurred here. For many years the death toll of this club was on a roll. An explosion killed 12 people in 1873, several suicides, missing prostitutes and bodies stored in the crypt all could account for the sense of spirits in the Washoe Club. Today, you can take a tour of the building’s haunted history – guided tours are available throughout the week and last about an hour.

The “Millionaires Club” is also available for overnight investigations. Yes, your group can be locked down in the Washoe Club for a full investigation just like Zak, Nick, and Aaron from the Travel Channel original series, Ghost Adventures. For $400 your group will get access to all 3 floors of The Washoe Club, the crypt as well as the spiral staircase. All that is required is that each member of your group becomes a basic member of The Washoe Club Restoration project at the $20 level.

The Super Chicken is a place where you can find souvenirs.

A gift shop and the original jail.

The BUCKET of BLOOD Saloon. This structure was constructed in 1876 after the great fire of 1875 which destroyed up to a thousand structures of the town. Most of the town’s core buildings were lost or sustained damage, unfortunately the first structure that previously occupied this location, like a lot of the other town’s buildings of that time was completely destroyed. Though the building you are currently viewing has gone through several renovations, iterations and operations since 1876, it like many of the other historical buildings throughout Virginia City survive as living history.

Unlike the name, this building does not appear to be haunted and there were no murders in this saloon. If you do decide to come in and have a drink I highly recommend the Cemetery Gin and it's distilled with Nevada pine nuts.

The Chollar Mansion is a historic Victorian Italianate style house, that was built between 1862 and 1864. The residence was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1993. It was deemed significant for its association with William "Billy" Chollar, a miner whose Chollar Mine, later merged with Potosi Mine to form the Chollar-Potosi Mine, tapped part of the Comstock Lode, and yielded enormous amounts of silver ore.

Today the Chollar Mansion serves as a bed-and-breakfast.

Built in 1875, the Fourth Ward School was one of the biggest and nicest schools in the area. After years of neglect, the Ward was closed for more than 50 years. Repairs were made and it was reopened in 1986. Today the building is still open as a museum, but the spirit of former teacher Miss Suzzie can still be seen searching the grounds for her students.

Pioneer Emporium is another Souvenir Shop.

The Palace is a great place to get some food and enjoy a beer.

Grant's General Store has a Mark Twain Museum. I wanted to check out the museum but this place is temporarily closed.

Here are a couple of more stores and I love the look and feel of Virginia City.

Nevada State Firemen's Museum and Comstock Firemen's Museum were founded in 1979 by Virginia City’s volunteer Fire Department, this museum displays 19th-century firefighting equipment. There are many artifacts relating to the history of firefighting on both the Comstock and throughout Nevada. Liberty Engine Company No. 1 is still an operating volunteer firefighting unit.

The Silver Dollar Saloon is about as authentic and local as you can get. The narrow stairs lead to this hangout a level below C Street. Known for it’s homemade Bloody Mary’s, $2 beer and great company, this hidden gem has a back deck that overlooks Virginia City’s 100-mile view.

Ponderosa Saloon was more than 150 years of history, previously the Sharon House and home of the old Bank of California vault from 1864. Take the 25-minute guided underground mine tour with over 300 pieces of antique mining equipment on display. Take some time and check out the old walk in bank vault also.

St. Mary's in the Mountains is the oldest Catholic Church in Nevada. An unmistakable fixture on the Virginia City skyline, this historic church has been the grand champion of historic churches in Nevada since it was erected in 1870. Though there are many impressive historically restored churches peppered throughout Nevada ghost towns, Saint Mary in the Mountains is in an entirely separate class; it’s an untouchable model of historic preservation after a series of disasters. As the first Catholic Church in the state of Nevada, this religious institution still operates as a working Catholic Church, and welcomes all visitors to explore the free museum in the basement that outlines the history church itself, Catholicism in Nevada, and what life was like on the Comstock during Virginia City’s formative, boom years.

Like most other businesses in town, most of the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1875. By the time the 1950s rolled around, the former glory of Saint Mary in the Mountains had waned and the church was in serious decay. There was a conversation among area bishops that the “Gothic” look was no longer relevant, the church was “too worldly” and essentially, embraced boring historic components of an already “old religion.” To reinvent the church to make it more interesting to younger audiences, a group of Cistercian monks from Wisconsin were recruited, who later became known as the “Mad Monks”. They took over management of the church in 1957 and essentially took an unmeasurable toll on European craftsmanship and historic, invaluable features in the church. Original 1870s-era stained glass was smashed and broken, the choir loft was ripped out (structurally damaging the building,) and religious figures were transformed into abstract-modern-style installations.

The Mark Twain Saloon & Casino was built in 1863 and is one of less than 10 percent of buildings that survived the “Great Fire of 1875. It has almost always been a saloon, but not named the Mark Twain until the mid-1950s.

THE FACE UPON THE BARROOM FLOOR is mentioned quite a few times in American folklore, but they think may have the face that started it all! Theirs may not be the one that later ended up in popular songs and poems, but the face painted on the floor of the Mark Twain Saloon & Casino might just have the most famous subject: beloved courtesan Julia Bulette. The artist was rumored to be none other than the man that they say eventually took her life — a French drifter named John Millian.

I couldn't get a good picture of the Face on the Floor so I took this one off the internet.

If you want to back in history and spend some time in the Wild West than Virginia City Nevada is the place to go. The entire town still looks and feels as if you are in the 1800's. This town is also a great place to investigate paranormal activity boasting at least thirteen place that are haunted. They include: Silver Queen Hotel, Historic Fourth Ward School, Sugar Loaf Mountain Motel, Piper’s Opera House, Mackay Mansion, Storey County Courthouse, Old Washoe Club, Vacant Lot, Silver Terrace Cemetery, St. Mary’s Art Center, E. Clampus Vitus Building, Gold Hill Hotel, Delta Saloon.

Come here around Halloween to have a great time and spend one night at Silver Terrace Cemetery, and another night at the Old Washoe Club. If you do come here and have a paranormal experience I would love to hear about it.

Whether you have a paranormal experience or not this is one little awesome town to visit.