Nevada’s population shifted with booms, busts
Virginia City was the biggest city in Nevada in 1870, the year of the first federal census after Nevada became a state.
The hot new places, though, were in White Pine County. Hamilton, Treasure Hill and Shermantown were booming.
Never heard of them?
You’re not alone, according to Ron James, Nevada’s historic preservation officer. Nevada’s history is full of places that spring up almost overnight — usually around ore bodies — and then disappear, James said.
“You get names like Candelaria or Rhylolite or Weepah,� James said. “People don’t recognize them today, but when they happened, they were the buzz.�
Genoa was the biggest town in Nevada when it became a territory, but by 1860 Carson City topped it, James said. Then came Virginia City’s boom and population decline, when Reno became the biggest city. Then after the turn of the century, Goldfield shot to prominence and declined, only to be eclipsed by Reno again, James said.
Reno held the title as Nevada’s biggest city through the 1950 census. By 1960, Las Vegas eclipsed Reno and never looked back.
“Handing the baton (as biggest community) back and forth all over the map, that kind of dramatic shift is maybe peculiar to a state in the mining west,� James said.
Although a mining town, Virginia City held the title of Nevada’s biggest community for more than 30 years.
“Virginia City was remarkable because it had 20 years of extraordinary economic luck, which is more than a place like Austin or Hamilton could boast,� James said.
Virginia City’s population reached 10,917 in U.S. Census Bureau records, but James said it reached its peak population of about 25,000 between the 1870 and 1880 census counts. With that population, it would have been one of the largest cities west of the Mississippi River.
Goldfield’s population boomed to around 20,000, Emmett L. Arnold wrote in “Gold-Camp Drifter: 1906-1910.� Reno wouldn’t top that in census figures until 1940. Since census counts are done every 10 years, Goldfield’s boom is almost a footnote in federal census figures. Founded in 1902, Goldfield didn’t exist in the 1900 census and by the 1910 census, Goldfield’s population declined to 4,838.
Dwayne Kling, who wrote about Reno’s growth in “The Rise of the Biggest Little City,� said Las Vegas was organized to grow in a way that Reno never was.
In Las Vegas, the casinos got together to expand the airport or build a convention center, Kling said.
“The casino owners in Reno never united like the ones in Vegas did,� Kling said. “There was always some kind of confrontation to a degree.�
Reno also had a stronger no-growth element, and voters likely voted a mayor out of office after they felt the city was growing too fast in the 1970s, he said.
James jokes that because of Nevada’s history, it may be time for Las Vegas to pass on the baton.
“Ely’s time is right around the corner. It might be the biggest
2005-07-12
