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.

 

Hunter (Carbonate)

DIRECTIONS: From Illipah, take U.S. 50 east for 11.5 miles. Exit left and follow for 3 miles. Exit right and follow for 4.5 miles, then bear left and continue on for 7.5 miles to Hunter.

"Initial discoveries at Hunter were made by William Armstrong and Chris Decker on December 3, 1871. The early mines included the Horton, Tiger, Nebraska, and Arizona. These four mines produced $208,000 in their first year, but the Hunter District had to pay a high bullion tax. Hunter was the only district forced to pay this tax, which took $96,000 out of production figures. The Hunter mines were bought by George Kennedy of Cherry Creek, who built a smelter just north of the growing camp. During summer 1872 new mines included the Petersburgh ($1,100 per ton), Home Ticket ($47 per ton), Monte Negro, or Black Mountain ($300 to $2,000 per ton), Nebraska Tunnel ($850 per ton), and Emma ($350 per ton). The best mine was the Petersburgh, discovered by Nick Mars. The rich ore coming out of the district focused quite a bit of attention on Hunter, and the camp soon had a population of 50, plus a saloon, a blacksmith shop, a boardinghouse, and a general store. Hunter reached its peak in 1877 with close to 80 residents. Hunter had more than 40 houses, two stores, three restaurants, six saloons, two lodging houses, and a post office, with James A. Pay serving as postmaster.

In June the Crown Point Mining Company gained control of the district's mines and water and timber rights. Thirty houses were moved to Hunter from Cherry Creek and Schellbourne. The ore slowly ran out, and the Hunter furnace closed on July 12, 1884. At the time, the furnace employed 40 people. After it closed, most of Hunter's residents left. The handful left in Hunter in May 1886 were witnesses to murder when John Howlett, a prominent Carson City resident, was killed by Ed Crutchley. Crutchley was found guilty and hanged at Hamilton on December 31. He was the first man legally hanged in White Pine County.

Hunter continued to fade during the late nineteenth century. By 1900, the smelter had been wrecked, only one boardinghouse was still standing, and foundations were scattered throughout the site. P. A. Darraher started a small revival in 1904, and a two-story bunkhouse, a boardinghouse, and an office building were built. By 1905 the camp was full of tar paper shacks and 100 men were employed. The Hunter Mine, the district's only producer, was purchased by the Vulcan Mining, Smelting, and Refining Company in 1907. Between 1907 and 1916, when the company folded, a little more than $80,000 was produced. Leaseholders worked the district from 1920 to 1923, and the last activity occurred in 1948. Today only smelter ruins and decaying wooden shacks mark the site."

 

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