Mining town
Encyclopedia
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
or a quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
for the extraction or smeltering of ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
.
United States
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
several different types of communities were established by Americans during the frontier period; mining towns, railroad towns, cow towns and farming towns were the primary settlements built. Throughout the continental United States and Alaska, valuable minerals were discovered and mining operations launched. The miners would usually settle a site and make home of tent
Tent
A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs...
s and shack
Shack
A shack is a type of small house, usually in a state of disrepair. The word may derive from the Nahuatl word xacalli or "adobe house" by way of Mexican Spanish xacal/jacal, which has the same meaning as "shack". It was a common usage among people of Mexican ancestry throughout the U.S...
s, eventually mining buildings such as smelters or stamp mills would be constructed followed by cabin
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
s, store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
s and saloon
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
s. A community would naturally be born with the settling of women and children and existed as long as precious metal could be dug from the area. Sometimes the geograpghical location of a mining community or the various American railroads would ensure a community's existence after all the valuable minerals were gone. Many American mining communities became 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...
s though others have become prominent cities
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
. A settlement usually can only be considered a mining community if a mine exists directly at the settlement or within the immediate area and if the population relies on the mine economically. Smelter towns were built for smeltering ore extracted from mines, they are considered a type of mining community. Mill town
Mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...
s are also a type of mining community.
Historic mining communities
Canada- Glace Bay, Nova ScotiaGlace Bay, Nova ScotiaGlace Bay is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms part of the general area referred to as Industrial Cape Breton....
United States
- In Arizona
- Bisbee, ArizonaBisbee, ArizonaBisbee is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, 82 miles southeast of Tucson. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 6,177...
- Cerro Colorado, ArizonaCerro Colorado, ArizonaCerro Colorado is a ghost town in southern Pima County, Arizona. It is located off Arivaca Road, near Arivaca, Arizona. The town is best known for the massacre of mining employees by Mexican outlaws and buried treasure.-History:...
- Contention City, ArizonaContention City, ArizonaContention City or Contention is a ghost mining town in Cochise County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It was occupied from the early-1880s through the late-1880s in what was then known as the Arizona Territory...
- Jerome, ArizonaJerome, ArizonaJerome is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 353.-History:...
- Ruby, ArizonaRuby, ArizonaRuby is a ghost town in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. It was founded as a mining town in Bear Valley, originally named Montana Camp, so named because the miners were mining at the foot of Montana Peak.-History:...
- Tombstone, ArizonaTombstone, ArizonaTombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
- Tumacacori, Arizona
- Bisbee, Arizona
- In Colorado
- Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
- Leadville, ColoradoLeadville, ColoradoLeadville is a Statutory City that is the county seat of, and the only municipality in, Lake County, Colorado, United States. Situated at an elevation of , Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States...
- Victor, ColoradoVictor, ColoradoVictor is a Statutory City in Teller County, Colorado, United States. The population was 445 at the 2000 census.Victor is in the heart of Colorado's gold country, home to two of the major gold mines in the Cripple Creek mining district...
- Denver, Colorado
- In Montana
- Butte, MontanaButte, MontanaButte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...
- Butte, Montana
- In Nevada
- Virginia City, NevadaVirginia City, NevadaVirginia City is a census-designated place that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada. It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 855 at the 2010 Census.- History :...
- Virginia City, Nevada
- In New Mexico
- Pinos Altos, New MexicoPinos Altos, New MexicoPinos Altos, in Grant County, New Mexico, was a mining town, formed in 1860 following the discovery of gold in the nearby Pinos Altos Mountains. The town site is located about five to ten miles north of the present day Silver City, New Mexico...
- Silver City, New MexicoSilver City, New MexicoSilver City is a town in Grant County, New Mexico, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 10,545. It is the county seat of Grant County. The city is the home of Western New Mexico University.-History:...
- Pinos Altos, New Mexico
- In South Dakota
- Deadwood, South DakotaDeadwood, South DakotaDeadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is named for the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,270 according to a 2010 census...
- Deadwood, South Dakota
- In Utah
- Dragon, UtahDragon, Utah-External links:* at GhostTowns.com...
- Eureka, UtahEureka, UtahEureka was originally known as Ruby Hollow before it developed into a bustling mining town. Incorporated as a city in 1892, Eureka became the financial center for the Tintic Mining District, a wealthy gold and silver mining area in Utah and Juab counties. The district was organized in 1869 and by...
- Frisco, UtahFrisco, UtahFrisco is a ghost town in Beaver County, Utah, USA. It was an active mining camp from 1879 to 1929.-History:Frisco developed as the post office and commercial center for the San Francisco Mining District, and was the terminus of the Utah Southern Railroad extension from Milford. The Horn Silver...
- Park City, UtahPark City, UtahPark City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 7,558 at the 2010 census...
- Silver Reef, UtahSilver Reef, UtahSilver Reef is a ghost town in Washington County, Utah, United States, about northeast of St. George and west of Leeds. Silver Reef was established after John Kemple, a prospector from Nevada, discovered a vein of silver in a sandstone formation in 1866. At first, geologists were uncertain about...
- Spring Canyon, UtahSpring Canyon, UtahSpring Canyon, also called Storrs, is a ghost town in Carbon County, Utah, United States. In 1912, Jesse Knight purchased 1,600 acres of coal land and began developing a mine and a company town. Knight named the town Storrs, after the mine superintendent. The name of the town was changed to Spring...
- Dragon, Utah