Please remember to exercise caution when exploring Nevada's Ghost Towns & Mining Camps. Open shafts, drifts going into mountainsides, and old buildings, are all DANGEROUS. Be aware of your surroundings, and let someone know where you are, especially if your plans change.

Mount Hope (Morlath) (McGreary) (Garden Pass District)

DIRECTIONS: From Garden Pass, continue north on Nevada 278 for 2.5 miles. Exit left and follow for 3 miles to Mount Hope.

"The initial discoveries at Mount Hope were made in the fall of 1871 by a man named McGeary, who organized the McGeary Mining District. By January 1872, twenty claims were being worked. A small camp soon formed and a townsite was laid out by Mike Browsky and Company in early 1872. By Summer, several mines had been developed, including the Mexican, Josephine, Black Cloud, Little Frank, Geneva, Rambling Boy, Phillip Sheridan, Champion, and Badger State. The richest of them was the Mexican, with ore values running at around $100 per ton. The Mount Hope mines attracted a lot of attention from Eureka's mining companies. George Bibbins, superintendent of the Magnolia Mining Company, did a complete prospecting canvass of the district and found the mines to be very promising. Bibbins, along with Marceliena Carabantes, discovered the Mexican and Carabantes Mine, which brought a fair profit to the pair.

In August 1872 the district was renamed the Hope Mountain Mining District because the mines were located on the slopes of Mount Hope. During that month a rich new mine, the Last Rose of Summer, was discovered by Captain John M. Foley. The mainstay of the camp, however, became the Josephine. By April 1873, the mine was more than 500 feet long and was producing $125-per-ton ore. There were rumors during the summer of 1873 that President Ulysses S. Grant was going to visit on his Western trip, but the visit never materialized. After 1878 Mount Hope quickly died. The camp was then entirely deserted until 1886, when the Mount Hope Mine was reopened and operated off and on until 1947. The Callahan Lead-Zinc Company controlled the mine during the 1940s and produced several million dollars in zinc. In March 1947, fire forced the company to fold, destroying the mine workings, powerhouse, shop, compressors, and light and power units. The tragedy put 80 men out of work, and the district was abandoned. Interest in the district was revived when Exxon announced on August 7, 1978, that a large molybdenum deposit had been discovered. Exploratory drilling began in late 1978, and estimates indicate that the deposit could last for 50 years. Mount Hope could be around for a long time! However, a large drop in molybdenum prices forced Exxon to abandon its mineral operations in the 1980s. At the site, remains from the original Mount Hope settlement are scarce. Most of the visible remains are from leasing activities in the 1920s and 1930s and the extensive operations of the Callahan Company during the 1940s."

 

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