Pioneer, Nevada
Encyclopedia
Pioneer is a ghost town
in Nye County
, in the U.S. state of Nevada
. Beginning as a mining camp near the Mayflower and other gold mines in northern Bullfrog Hills
, it became a formal town in 1908 and flourished briefly until fire destroyed much of its business district in 1909 and litigation delayed mining. Population peaked at an estimated 2,500 in 1908, and the community survived at least through the closing of the Pioneer post office in 1931. Mining continued near the town site through 1941. Few remnants of Pioneer structures survived through the end of the 20th century.
. It is about 7 miles (11.3 km) north of Beatty
, 8 miles (12.9 km) northeast of the ghost towns of Rhyolite
and Bullfrog
, and 130 miles (209.2 km) northwest of Las Vegas
. Desert spring
s in or near the Oasis Valley of the Amargosa River
are 2 to 4 mi (3.2 to 6.4 km) east of Pioneer. Donovan Mountain in the Bullfrog Hills rises to 5597 feet (1,706 m) above sea level near Sarcobatus Flat slightly west of the ghost town, and the northeastern corner of Death Valley National Park
is about 3 miles (4.8 km) further west.
, who invested heavily in the Montgomery-Shoshone Mine near Rhyolite, also invested in the Mayflower in 1906. A Pioneer town-site company was formed in 1908 and began grading roads and selling lots. In that year, a daily stagecoach
began making runs between Pioneer and the mining town of Springdale, about 2 miles (3.2 km) to the northeast along the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad. Another daily stagecoach linked Pioneer and Rhyolite in 1909 along a road constructed for the purpose.
As the mines near Rhyolite declined late in the decade, some miners and businesses moved to Pioneer and in some cases took their buildings with them. A group of investors from Rhyolite and Tonopah bought the Montgomery Hotel in Beatty and moved it to Pioneer in February 1909, re-naming it the Holland House, "the grandest building Pioneer would ever have". Later that spring, Pioneer's population had grown to an estimated 2,500 occupying an estimated 300 buildings. They included the town's post office, which the federal government approved in March 1909. In addition to the stagecoach, early automobiles ferried people back and forth between Pioneer and the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad
station in Rhyolite.
Water was available by the barrel from Springdale and Crystal Springs, 3 miles (4.8 km) to the southeast. For about five months in 1909, the town had two weekly newspapers, the Pioneer Topics and the Pioneer Press. Businesses in Pioneer included a drug store, a doctor's office, a barber shop, eating establishments, a liquor store, saloons, a meat market, a general store
, a bank, and boarding house
s, in addition to the Holland House. Just after the town reached its peak of development in March and April 1909, a May 9 fire destroyed much of the business district, and, although the town continued to prosper for a while, "the excitement would never be the same".
The town rebuilt the business district and opened a school enrolling 44 students in mid-1909. Several mines with steady payrolls sustained Pioneer through the end of the year, but litigation slowed work at the Mayflower and other nearby mines, and the town's growth ceased. Fall enrollment at the school dropped to 24, and residents held a "Hard Times Dance" at the Holland Hotel at the beginning of 1910. Disputes about mine ownership led to further litigation, and the failure of the First National Bank of Rhyolite hampered investments in Pioneer. Stores began to close, and in August 1910, the Holland Hotel was sold to pay delinquent taxes. A shrinking population lived in or near Pioneer for many years, and the post office stayed open through early 1931. Mining, continuing in the area through the 1930s, was suspended in 1941, and did not resume on a large scale after World War II
. As of 2004, little remained of Pioneer aside from "quite a bit of debris, levelled building sites, a few boards, and perhaps some foundations" and, nearby, remnants of the Mayflower headframe
and ore
bin.
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 Nye County
Nye County, Nevada
-National protected areas:* Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Death Valley National Park * Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest * Spring Mountains National Recreation Area -Demographics:...
, in the U.S. state of Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. Beginning as a mining camp near the Mayflower and other gold mines in northern Bullfrog Hills
Bullfrog Hills
The Bullfrog Hills are a small range of mountains in southern Nye County, Nevada. The historic Rhyolite, Nevada, mining district was in the Bullfrog Hills, and the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad crossed the hills to its Rhyolite station via the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad The Bullfrog, Nevada,...
, it became a formal town in 1908 and flourished briefly until fire destroyed much of its business district in 1909 and litigation delayed mining. Population peaked at an estimated 2,500 in 1908, and the community survived at least through the closing of the Pioneer post office in 1931. Mining continued near the town site through 1941. Few remnants of Pioneer structures survived through the end of the 20th century.
Geography
Pioneer is on the north side of the Bullfrog Hills along Pioneer Road, a gravel road off U.S. Route 95U.S. Route 95
U.S. Route 95 is a north–south U.S. highway in the western United States. Unlike many other US highways, it has not seen deletion or replacement on most of its length by an encroaching Interstate highway corridor, due to its mostly rural course...
. It is about 7 miles (11.3 km) north of Beatty
Beatty, Nevada
Beatty is a census-designated place along the Amargosa River in Nye County in the U.S. state of Nevada. U.S. Route 95 runs through the CDP, which lies between Tonopah, about to the north, and Las Vegas, about to the southeast. State Route 374 connects Beatty to Death Valley National Park, about ...
, 8 miles (12.9 km) northeast of the ghost towns of Rhyolite
Rhyolite, Nevada
Rhyolite is a ghost town in Nye County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is located in the Bullfrog Hills, about northwest of Las Vegas, near the eastern edge of Death Valley. The town began in early 1905 as one of several mining camps that sprang up after a prospecting discovery in the surrounding...
and Bullfrog
Bullfrog, Nevada
Bullfrog is a ghost town in Nye County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is located at the north end of the Amargosa Desert about west of Beatty. Less than north of Bullfrog are the Bullfrog Hills and the ghost town of Rhyolite...
, and 130 miles (209.2 km) northwest of Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. Desert spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
s in or near the Oasis Valley of the Amargosa River
Amargosa River
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, into the Mojave Desert, and finally into Death Valley where it disappears into...
are 2 to 4 mi (3.2 to 6.4 km) east of Pioneer. Donovan Mountain in the Bullfrog Hills rises to 5597 feet (1,706 m) above sea level near Sarcobatus Flat slightly west of the ghost town, and the northeastern corner of Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is a national park in the U.S. states of California and Nevada located east of the Sierra Nevada in the arid Great Basin of the United States. The park protects the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and contains a diverse desert environment of salt-flats, sand dunes,...
is about 3 miles (4.8 km) further west.
History
Pioneer developed from a primitive mining camp near the Mayflower, Pioneer, and other gold mines on the north side of the Bullfrog Hills. These mines were part of the Bullfrog Mining District, which included mines on the south side of the hills in places like Rhyolite and Bullfrog. Industrialist Charles M. SchwabCharles M. Schwab
Charles Michael Schwab was an American steel magnate. Under his leadership, Bethlehem Steel became the second largest steel maker in the United States, and one of the most important heavy manufacturers in the world....
, who invested heavily in the Montgomery-Shoshone Mine near Rhyolite, also invested in the Mayflower in 1906. A Pioneer town-site company was formed in 1908 and began grading roads and selling lots. In that year, a daily stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
began making runs between Pioneer and the mining town of Springdale, about 2 miles (3.2 km) to the northeast along the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad. Another daily stagecoach linked Pioneer and Rhyolite in 1909 along a road constructed for the purpose.
As the mines near Rhyolite declined late in the decade, some miners and businesses moved to Pioneer and in some cases took their buildings with them. A group of investors from Rhyolite and Tonopah bought the Montgomery Hotel in Beatty and moved it to Pioneer in February 1909, re-naming it the Holland House, "the grandest building Pioneer would ever have". Later that spring, Pioneer's population had grown to an estimated 2,500 occupying an estimated 300 buildings. They included the town's post office, which the federal government approved in March 1909. In addition to the stagecoach, early automobiles ferried people back and forth between Pioneer and the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad
Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad
The Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad was a 197.9 mile railroad built by William A. Clark that ran northwest from a connection with the mainline of the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad at Las Vegas, Nevada to the gold mines at Goldfield...
station in Rhyolite.
Water was available by the barrel from Springdale and Crystal Springs, 3 miles (4.8 km) to the southeast. For about five months in 1909, the town had two weekly newspapers, the Pioneer Topics and the Pioneer Press. Businesses in Pioneer included a drug store, a doctor's office, a barber shop, eating establishments, a liquor store, saloons, a meat market, a general 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...
, a bank, and boarding house
Boarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
s, in addition to the Holland House. Just after the town reached its peak of development in March and April 1909, a May 9 fire destroyed much of the business district, and, although the town continued to prosper for a while, "the excitement would never be the same".
The town rebuilt the business district and opened a school enrolling 44 students in mid-1909. Several mines with steady payrolls sustained Pioneer through the end of the year, but litigation slowed work at the Mayflower and other nearby mines, and the town's growth ceased. Fall enrollment at the school dropped to 24, and residents held a "Hard Times Dance" at the Holland Hotel at the beginning of 1910. Disputes about mine ownership led to further litigation, and the failure of the First National Bank of Rhyolite hampered investments in Pioneer. Stores began to close, and in August 1910, the Holland Hotel was sold to pay delinquent taxes. A shrinking population lived in or near Pioneer for many years, and the post office stayed open through early 1931. Mining, continuing in the area through the 1930s, was suspended in 1941, and did not resume on a large scale after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. As of 2004, little remained of Pioneer aside from "quite a bit of debris, levelled building sites, a few boards, and perhaps some foundations" and, nearby, remnants of the Mayflower headframe
Headframe
A headframe is the structural frame above an underground mine shaft. Modern headframes are built out of steel, concrete or a combination of both...
and 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....
bin.