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.

Berlin

Directions: From Ione, head south on Nevada 844 for 3 miles. Exit left and follow signs to Berlin for about 2 miles.

"According to most historical accounts, State Senator T.J. Bell discovered the Berlin mine in 1895 and later sold the mine property to John Phelps Stokes of New York in 1898. However, in March 1887 the Belmont Courier reported that the Cincinnati Mining Company had opened the Berlin mine and was treating the ore at its Knickerbocker mill. It appears that Bell didn't actually discover the mine but rather relocated it, since the Cincinnati Company abandoned the mine when it folded in 1889.
The town of Berlin was founded in 1897. In 1898 the Nevada Company, which Stokes organized, bought two mills in the Ione area and transferred the equipment to Berlin for installation in a new thirty-stamp mill that was being built at the time. A post office, with John Thompson as postmaster, opened on July 10,1900. Berlin kept growing, and by 1905 the town had a population of close to 300.
Berlin was the site of a large store that had been moved there from Ione in 1900. The store also served as a boarding house and was one of the most impressive structures in the town. In addition to the saloons located in nearby Union Canyon, there were three others closer to Berlin. The Johnson Saloon moved to Ione in 1910, but owner Bob Johnson continued to run another establishment in Berlin until 1919. The Puccinelli Saloon was situated halfway between Berlin and Union Canyon. During the early years of Berlin's existence, this saloon was the most popular one in the area, because it was the closest to the mine and mill. Billy Bell, who had earlier bought the Puccinelli Saloon built the Bell Saloon- the last one to go up in Berlin. Bell inherited $3,000 and decided to use the money to build a new saloon in an excellent location just below town. Business was brisk at the Bell until Berlin was abandoned. In 1910 Bob Dixon moved the Union Canyon Town Hall to Berlin to serve as a boarding house, and a stage line also ran.
In 1907 everything went dead when a miners' strike closed down the mine and mill. The company refused to cave in, telling the miners it couldn't afford higher wages. It eventually folded. A few people remained, and their persistence was rewarded in late 1909, when leasers named Parman and Feenaman reopened the mine and mill. The modest revival, which only lasted a year, brought some life back to Berlin. Soon after Parman and Feenaman's operation shut down, Alfred Smith took a lease and constructed a fifty-ton cyanide plant just below the mill. The pant continued to operate on a small scale from 1910 until 1914, and the recovery rate of the cyanide processing was just $2.50 a ton.
After the Smith plant shut down, no more activity took place in the Berlin area for a number of years. The post office closed on December 18, 1918. Postmasters who served included Oren Counsil, Thomas Jones, Thomas Stevens, Charles Houstand, Daniel Johnson, and Lawrence Tanner.

Berlin was in its final death throes. The Goldfield Blue Bell Mining Company's purchase of claims in the area in the 1920s shone a small ray of hope over the district. The company reequipped the Berlin mine with a steam hoist and an air compressor, but the operations were of an exploratory nature and were never full scale. The company kept mine superintendent Daniel Johnson in Berlin until 1947, when the mill was dismantled. There has been no mining activity in the area since then, and the total value of the district's production was recorded at $850,000.
There are extensive remains at Berlin. Thirteen buildings are left at the site, which has been incorporated into the Berlin-Ichthyosaur Nevada State Park. The state park system has placed the old town of Berlin in a state of "arrested decay." Among the buildings still remaining are the huge mill (which the state recently restored to working condition), the old assay office (which now serves at a ranger station), and a number of miners' cabins. All three saloons have disappeared, but an explorer can easily locate theses sites by looking for piles of broken glass. The ruins of five buildings include the Puccinelli Saloon, are half a mile south of town. There is a small cemetery southeast of Berlin, but most of its graves are now empty, having being moved to different towns after the Berlin collapse. The ghosts of Berlin rest quietly. On occasion visitors disturb their peace.
Berlin is a definite must for any ghost-town lover. Many hours can be spent wandering around the site. Signs throughout, erected by the state park system, label and describe the buildings still standing and others that are completely gone.

 

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