I stumbled upon some photos of the Yellow Jacket Mine, New York Mine, Caledonia Mine, and the Kentucky Mine. All seemed haunted, abandoned and isolated in the middle of nowhere. But low and behold they are smack dab in the middle of civilization, well sorta. Turns out these mines and their impressive head frames and mill sites are located right off highway 342 in a small town named Gold Hill just south of Virginia City. Checkout Google Street View. A quick look at USGS Historical Topo map reveals more mines than you can shake a stick at. Ruins, graves and tunnels galore.
haunted and 34 men lost their lives
Turns out the Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon is haunted and 34 men lost their lives in the Yellow Jacket Mine fire of April 7th, 1869. Gold Hill has become a ghost chasers destination.
abandon the wife and kids
In Feb 2016 on a family weekend to Tahoe’s North Shore we dashed over to Virginia City for lunch passing through Gold Hill. I snapped these photos from the comfort of the family car. Drooling the entire time to abandon the wife and kids to climb the various mill and head-frame covered hillsides. Definitely warrants a future day trip and more historical inquiry.
2 Comments
These mines in particular are known to have deadly gasses and lack of oxygen. Some of the worst in the region.
Good to know, thank you Jeremy!