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.

 

Schellbourne

Directions: Half-mile east of SR 2 at a point 3 miles east of its junction with US93 (43 miles north of Ely).

"Schellbourne led three lives- station, fort, and mining camp. The Pony Express established Schell Creek Station with corral and station house in the Spring of 1860. When the Pony Express ceased running 18 months later, Schell Creek became a miner stock exchange station and inn for Overland stages. This place briefly took the name Fort Schellbourne in 1862 after a detachment of troops camped here to head off some troublesome Indians who harassed the stages and mail. As the decade wore on things quieted down; the Indians were subdued and the troops were transferred elsewhere; and the stage station saw less use after 1869 after competition of the Central Pacific furthered north.

Gold discoveries in the surrounding hills in 1869 led to the founding of a mining camp two years later. A post office was established in December 1871 and in July then next year the Schell Creek Prospect began weekly publications. Schellbourne got off to a fine start and had over 300 people that year, but its hopes were blasted away by the sensational discoveries at Cherry Creek, ten miles across Steptoe Valley at the end of 1872. The new boom drained all but few people even though Schellbourne's promising silver ledges had been scarcely worked. Houses and machinery were hauled overnight to Cherry Creek. Meanwhile, a few hopefuls stood by for capitol to revive the district. Later in the 1870's mines resumed production to feed a five-stamp mill and the camp was lively, but by 1880 Schellbourne had declined to fifty inhabitants. Stone and log buildings remain in a tree-stubbed area - a good campsite with plenty of cool water."

Return to: Ghost Town & Mining Camp Map