Silver ore was discovered in 1859 under what is now the city. $400,000,000 in silver and gold was taken from the Comstock mines over the following 20 years. Much of the growth of Nevada and San Francisco was triggered by the wealth generated by the discovery. And the wood timbers that braced the deep, deep mine shafts came mostly from the Lake Tahoe Basin via Glenbrook and Carson City.



A visit to Virginia City provides a direct connection to northern Nevada and California’s dramatic past. The booms which began at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento (gold, 1849) and with the Comstock Lode (silver, 1859) set the stage for what exists from Nevada to the Golden Gate today.

The population of Virginia City shot from zero to over 10,000 people between 1859 and 1880. They supported everything from saloons and an opera house to the digging of the famous Sutro Tunnel (Sutro later became the mayor of San Francisco) and a boot hill just outside of town. Today there are still historical, Victorian mansions and mine shafts to see and appreciate.