The Comstock
Virginia City and Gold Hill, built over the Comstock Lode, were among the richest mining towns in the West in the 1860s and 1870s. By the postcard era the boom had faded, but the towns, mines and mills were still photographed, and early real photos of Virginia City's streets and mines are collected. The Virginia and Truckee Railroad, which served the Comstock, is popular with railroad collectors.
The twentieth-century booms
In 1900, silver was discovered at Tonopah, and a few years later gold at Goldfield, setting off the last great mining rush in the American West. Goldfield briefly became the largest town in Nevada. Rhyolite, near Death Valley, grew from nothing to a substantial town and was nearly abandoned within a decade. Real photo postcards of these boom towns, with their tent saloons, crowded streets, mines, stock exchanges and stage lines, are among the most sought-after Nevada cards.
Copper and Ely
The copper mines and smelters around Ely, Ruth and McGill in eastern Nevada supported company towns. Real photos of the pits, smelters and towns are collected.
Railroads
The Central Pacific, later the Southern Pacific, crossed northern Nevada, and towns such as Reno, Elko, Winnemucca and Lovelock grew along it. Short lines served the mining camps. Depot real photos and railroad scenes are popular.
Reno
Early Reno was a railroad and ranching town that became famous for quick divorces and, later, gambling. Early real photos of Reno's streets, the Truckee River and the divorce-era hotels are more interesting than later chrome casino cards.
Las Vegas
Las Vegas was founded as a railroad town in 1905. Early cards of its streets and depot are scarce. The construction of Boulder Dam, later called Hoover Dam, in the early 1930s brought thousands of workers and produced many cards, including construction views that are collected. Later casino and Strip cards in chrome are very common.
Places and subjects to look for
- The Comstock: Virginia City, Gold Hill and the V&T railroad.
- Central Nevada: Tonopah, Goldfield, Manhattan and Austin.
- Southern Nevada: Rhyolite, early Las Vegas and Boulder Dam.
- Eastern Nevada: Ely, Ruth and McGill.
- Northern Nevada: Reno, Elko, Winnemucca and the railroad towns.
- Carson City: the capitol and mint.
- Lake Tahoe: early resorts on the Nevada shore.
Ranches and the open range
Cattle and sheep ranching filled Nevada's valleys, and real photos of ranches, buckaroos and roundups are popular with Western collectors.
Real photos versus printed views
Later Reno and Las Vegas casino cards were printed in huge numbers and are common. Real photos of mining camps, boom towns, railroad towns and ranches were made in small numbers and carry most of the value in a Nevada collection.
What is common
Chrome casino, hotel and Strip cards, Hoover Dam tourist views and Lake Tahoe scenics are plentiful.
Why Nevada boom town cards are scarce
Nevada had only about 80,000 people in 1910, spread across an enormous desert. Boom towns grew and emptied within a few years, and the photographers who followed the rushes moved on with them. Their cards were mailed home to every state and scattered. A real photo of a Goldfield street, a Rhyolite bank or a Tonopah mine may survive in only a handful of copies, which is why collectors of Western mining history prize them.
Questions about Nevada postcards
Are Goldfield and Tonopah postcards valuable? Real photos of the boom towns, mines and streets are among the most collectible Nevada cards.
Are early Las Vegas postcards collectible? Early views of the railroad town and Boulder Dam construction are collected; later casino cards are common.
Are Virginia City postcards worth anything? Early real photos of streets, mines and the V&T are collected.
Do you buy collections with Nevada cards? Yes, complete collections, by mail.