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.

 

Jacobsville (Jacobs Spring) (Jacobs Well)
(Jacobs Station) (Reese River Station)

DIRECTIONS: From Austin, head west on U.S. 50 for 5.5 miles. Exit right at roadside rest area, which has a Jacobsville historical marker. Follow this poor road for 0.75 mile. Bear left and follow for 0.5 mile to Jacobsville.

"Jacobsville came into existence with the Pony Express. The station was named for Washington Jacobs, the district agent here. Indian trouble plagued the station, and it was burned to the ground in 1860. Sir Richard Burton visited the new station as it was nearing completion and reported:

The station-house in the Reese River Valley had lately been evacuated by its proprietors and burnt down by the Indians: a new building of adobe was already assuming a comfortable shape. The food around it being poor and thin, our cattle were driven to the mountains. At night, probably by contrast with the torrid sun, the frost appeared colder than ever: we provided against it, however, by burrowing into the haystack, and despite the jackal-like cry of the coyote and the near tramping of the old white mare, we slept like tops.

The Overland Stage and Mail Company also used Jacobsville as a stop until the station was moved to Austin during that town's boom. Jacobsville was named Lander County seat in December 1862, when the county was carved out of Humboldt County, and the following year, an $8,400 courthouse was constructed. Jacobsville became the center for all miners and prospectors exploring the Reese River District. By the end of 1863, the town was at its peak, boasting a population of 400, two hotels, three stores, a telegraph office, and fifty homes. A post office opened on March 3, 1863, with James R. Jacobs as postmaster.

With the rapid growth of nearby Austin, Jacobsville's importance began to fade. An election in September 1863 was organized to select a county seat. Jacobsville could put up only feeble resistance, and the county seat moved to Austin. The post office closed on April 9, 1864, and the town was abandoned soon after that. A ranch that operated at the site for a while provided the only activity after the town folded. Today only scattered stone and brick foundations mark the site."

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