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Atwood Nevada

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Atwood Nevada

Atwood Nevada Overview

Atwood was a mining camp located in the Fairplay mining district in Nye County, Nevada, and extended into Mineral County, Nevada.

I found references that the area could have been known as Okey Davis, Goldyke (a small camp a mile southeast), Fairplay, Finger Rock, Paradise, Paradise Peak, and Globe.

Learn more about Ghost Town in Nevada and Ghost Towns in the Southwest.

Year Established/Founded

Discovered in 1865 and established in 1903.

Atwood Nevada History

The Engineering and Mining Journal (date unknown but could be around 1907):

Everett and party, who have been developing mines in the Atwood district for the past six years, report the discovery of a deposit of tungsten in one of their mining leases. Some of the specimens of the ore now being exhibited in Tonopah average 62 percent of tungsten.

From Tingley:

The Fairplay district includes the southern and southwestern flanks of the Paradise Range and extends from Coyote Spring/Ford Wells and the old camps of Atwood and Goldyke on the east to Finger Rock Wash, west of the Mineral County line. The district includes the old Atwood district, discovered in 1901, and the Goldyke area, about 1 mile southwest of Atwood, which was discovered in 1906. The Finger Rock area, including the Paradise Peak gold mine, is sometimes considered to be a separate district (A.L. Payne, pers. commun.). The historic Paradise district of Stretch (1867) and Danner (1995), and the Fairplay district of Kral, (1951) and Kleinhampl and Ziony (1984) included the areas of both the present Fairplay district and the present Paradise Peak district. The Globe district, described by Danner (1992), was located in the vicinity of the Sullivan Mine in the northern part of the present Fairplay district.

Timeline

  • 1901 – Gold was discovered by Okey Davis, George Duncan, Ewen A. McNaughton, and William Regan. 
  • April 25, 1903 – Mr. and Mrs. Geo. K. Duncan are in from Atwood. They are enthusiastic over the mineral showing of the new camp. Mr. Duncan will return to that point and begin mining ore for shipment. [Tonopah Bonanza Butler, Nevada 25 Apr 1903, Sat • Page 5]
  • May 2, 1903 – Within the past few days some fine specimens of gold, silver and copper ore have been received in town from the claims of Messrs. Cohn, Duncan, Enois and Miles at Atwood, the El dorado recently discovered in the northern end of Nye county, and distant ninety miles from Tonopah. These gentlemen own the extensions of the claims now being opened up by Messrs. Oddie, Sinclair, O’Brien, Stewart and Lee. On three of their claims a rich gold-bearing ledge has been discovered and development work on it wiV. soon be commenced. A short distance from this group the same parties have taken up a bunch of four claims on which several strong copper ledges outcrop. An average sample from one of these, the biggest and strongest-looking, gave assay returns of 180. The new camp is about thirty-five miles from the railroad, and this ore, of which there is said to be an immense deposit, can be shipped and treated at a moderate cost, and leave the owners a neat profit. [Tonopah Bonanza Butler, Nevada 02 May 1903, Sat • Page 2]
  • June 13, 1903 – George R. Duncan, D. S. Cohen, James Ennis, J. H. Miles, and Charles Cohen organized the Atwood Mining and Development company, with a capitalization of $1,000,000 divided into 1,000,000 shares of a par value of $1 each.
  • April 1904 – The Gold Crown Mining company was founded
  • February 1906  – The post office opened
  • 1907 – The mine played out and the camp folded.
  • January 31, 1908 – The post office closed
  • 1914 – The mining camp was revived when rich ore had been found by Okey Davis south of Atwood
  • 1959 – The last resident left the mining camp

Mines

Gold, silver, mercury, copper, and tungsten.

  1. Atwood
  2. Butler
  3. Golden Crown

1914 active mines

  1. Atwood mine
  2. Butler mine 
  3. Oakey Davis mine

Railroads

Unknown at this time.

Post Office

February 1906 – January 31, 1908

View the list and history of Nevada Post Offices.

Newspaper

Fairplay Prospector

Learn more about Nevada Newspapers

The Population of Atwood Nevada

Approximately 200 residents.

Elevation

6,001′

Location

Seven miles southeast of SR 23 at a point 4 1/2 miles south of Gabbs.

GPS Coordinates

38° 44′ 52.73″ N, 117° 51′ 22.40″ W

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Photos and Videos

None at this time.

References Used

Atwood Nevada