Bristol Wells, also known as National City, Bristol City and Tempest, is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 in Lincoln County, Nevada

Lincoln County, Nevada

Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2000 census, the population was 4,165. Its county seat is Pioche.-History:...

. The mining town was located on the west side of Bristol Mountain, 14 miles (22.5 km) northwest of Pioche, Nevada

Pioche, Nevada

-External links:*...

.

The first mining claims were staked in 1870. The district was organized the next year when the settlement of National City grew around the National Mine. In 1872 a furnace was built to treat silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

-lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

 ore from the Bristol Mine, 4 miles (6.4 km) to the east. In 1878 a richer deposit was found, resulting in the construction of a stamp mill

Stamp mill

A stamp mill is a type of mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking material down is a type of unit operation....

. The settlement was renamed Bristol City the same year. The stamp mill expanded in 1880 and a smelter was built, while stone ovens were built to provide charcoal

Charcoal

Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...

 for the smelter. The town's wells provided water to the mines. By 1890 a new smelter was built to treat copper ore, and the town's population reached 400.

Activity declined after 1893. A leach-recovery plant built in 1900 operated for two years, recovering copper. In 1913 an aerial tramway

Aerial tramway

An aerial tramway , cable car , ropeway or aerial tram is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion...

 was built to Jackrabbit, Nevada, 2 miles (3.2 km) to the northeast, where ore could be loaded on the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad

Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad

The Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad was a rail company that completed and operated a railway line between its namesake cities, via Las Vegas, Nevada. Incorporated in Utah in 1901 as the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, the line was largely the brainchild of William Andrews Clark,...

. Mining activity continued intermittently, sharply declining after 1918. The town was briefly renamed Tempest after the Tempest Mine in 1922, returning to Bristol in 1929. The post office continued until 1950.

The townsite was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1972.