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UNITED STATES | Reno, Nevada Travel Guide
Saturday, November 30, 2024
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Virginia City
Virginia City, Nevada (cc)
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Virginia City
There are several places of interest near Reno, but the pick of the bunch is Virginia City, billed as “the liveliest ghost town in the world,” located just to the south of Reno and reached by way of Highways 395 and 341. Virginia City is the home of Nevada's famous silver mines of the mid 1800s, which spawned a retinue of silver barons. It was then a bustling, thriving metropolis of 30,000, and the largest city between San Francisco and St. Louis, Missouri. But that was then. It now has a population of only 900. Yet, nearly 500,000 tourists visit the town every year. Tours of ancient silver mines, rides on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad steam trains, and visits to the many splendid Victorian mansions, notable among which are the Savage and Mackay mansions, are all worthwhile tourist activities here. The downtown has several 1860’s saloons and antique shops of sorts, as well as covered wooden walkways, reminiscent of the Old West. There is a huge cemetery worth seeing here too, and dozens of other old buildings and museums, with countless antique exhibits. In September, the annual Camel Races provide for some fun and games, with side attractions such as parachuting and mock battles between the Confederates and Yankees. The town also has an historic newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise, on which Mark Twain worked briefly during the 1860s. The Virginia City Visitors Bureau, located on C Street, has films on Virginia City’s bonanza days that are shown at the center daily.
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