Ruth NV
Ruth Nevada Overview
Ruth Nevada, a company town for the Nevada Consolidated Cooper Company, was named for the Ruth mining claim which was named for Ruth McDonald, who was the three-year-old daughter of the original owner of the mining claim, Dan C. McDonald.
Year Established/Founded
Founded in 1903.
Ruth Nevada History
Ruth was built for the adjacent Robinson Mine, a large open-pit copper mine, which is still in operation as of 2022.
By 1910 the settlement was already established a small distance from the first. The company provided the residents bunkhouses, a boarding house, and a hospital with all the utilities.
Saloons and bordellos were not permitted in the company town but were plentiful in the neighboring community of Riepetown.
Mines
Copper with traces of gold.
Timeline
- Early 1900s – Ore discovered by Dan C. McDonald.
- 1903 – Ruth Nevada founded as a settlement for the White Pine Copper Company workers.
- 1904 – A mill was built by the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company
- February 8, 1904 – Post office established.
- 1906 – Nevada Northern Railway opened and copper production began to boom.
- 1907 – Steam shovels were used to strip the area.
- July 12, 1912 – A mine explosion on July 12, 1912 killed ten people.
- 1919 – Labor dispute when 150 copper miners walked out demanding higher wages.
- 1929 – Another explosion set off by dynamite blasts. 2 men were killed with a third injured.
- 1933 – Nevada Consolidated Copper Company was taken over by Kennecott Copper Corporation.
- 1955 – Ruth ceased being a company town when the houses were sold to the John W. Galbreath Company. Occupants were given the opportunity to purchase the homes they had been renting.
- 1955 – The community was moved two miles north to make way for expansion of the Deep Ruth mine.
- 1978 – Kennecott closed the mines in Ruth
- 1986 – The elementary school closed.
Population of Ruth Nevada
At the beginning of the Great Depression, Ruth had almost 2,300 inhabitants and had a population of 440 at the 2010 census.
Post Office
Opened February 8, 1904 through present day.
Area Size
- Land 0.35 sq mi (0.90 km2)
- Water 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
- Total 0.35 sq mi (0.90 km2)
Elevation
6,880′
GPS Coordinates
39°16′42″N 114°59′18″W