What to See in Virginia City - Top Sights and Attractions

The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada, which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States and named after American miner Henry Comstock.

After the discovery was made public in 1859, it sparked a silver rush of prospectors to the area, scrambling to stake their claims. The discovery caused considerable excitement in California and throughout the United States, the greatest since the California Gold Rush in 1849. Mining camps soon thrived in the vicinity, which became bustling commercial centers, including Virginia City and Gold Hill.

The Comstock Lode is notable not just for the immense fortunes it generated and the large role those fortunes had in the growth of Nevada and San Francisco, but also for the advances in mining technology that it spurred, such as square set timbering and the Washoe process for extracting silver from ore. The mines declined after 1874, although underground mining continued sporadically into the 1920s.^[1]

Performing arts center in Virginia City, Nevada. Piper's Opera House is a historic performing arts venue in Virginia City, Storey County, Nevada in the United States. Piper's served as a training facility in 1897 for heavyweight boxing champion Gentleman Jim Corbett, in preparation for his title bout with Bob Fitzsimmons. The current structure was built by entrepreneur John Piper in 1885 to replace his 1878 opera house that had burned down. The 1878 venue, in turn, had been to replace Piper's 1863 venue which was destroyed by the 1875 Great Fire in Virginia City. Mark Twain spoke from the original Piper's stage in 1866, and again a century later in the third venue, as portrayed by Hal Holbrook in his one-man play Mark Twain Tonight! A lynch mob hung a victim from the first venue's rafters in 1871. American theatrical producer David Belasco was stage manager at the second opera house before moving to New York City. Piper's opera houses played host to Shakespearean thespians such as Edwin Booth. Musical performers Lilly Langtry, Al Jolson and John Philip Sousa once performed here. In 1940, Errol Flynn auctioned off historic Piper memorabilia from the opera house stage, during a live NBC broadcast that coincided with the premiere of Flynn's new movie Virginia City.^[4]

Virginia City Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing the former mining villages of Virginia City and Gold Hill, both in Storey County, as well as Dayton and Silver City, both to the south in adjacent Lyon County, Nevada, United States. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, the district is one of only six in the state of Nevada.

Virginia City was the prototype for future frontier mining boom towns, with its industrialization and urbanization. It owed its success to the 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode. The town is laid out in a grid pattern 1,500 feet below the top of Mount Davidson. Most of the buildings are two to three story brick buildings, with the first floors used for saloons and shops. Virginia City was the first silver rush town, and the first to intensely apply large-scale industrial mining methods.

After a year in existence, the boomtown had 42 saloons, 42 stores, 6 restaurants, 3 hotels, and 868 dwellings to house a town residency of 2,345. At its height in 1863, the town had 15,000 residents. From its creation in 1859 to 1875, there were five widespread fires. The 1875 fire, dubbed the Great Fire of 1875, caused $12,000,000 in damages.

Virginia City continues to attract over 2 million visitors per year. In 2004, the historic buildings were considered to be in a "threatened" state. An inactive mining pit may subside, causing some of the buildings to slide into the pit. The cemeteries have been, and continue to be, vandalized, while erosion threatens more damage. Continued use of the district for tourism is harming historical buildings that are still in use, while neglect of privately held unused buildings increases the damage to the historic nature of the entire district.^[6]

Building in Virginia City. The Piper–Beebe House, located at 2 S. A St. in Virginia City, Nevada, is a historic Italianate house that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was an 1876 work of Virginia City builder/architect A.F. MacKay, the only one of his works in Virginia City that survives. It was built after the "Great Fire" of 1875 that destroyed much of the city.

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. It has also been known as the Piper–Clegg House. It is also listed on the National Register as a contributing building within the National Historic Landmark Virginia City Historic District. It was deemed significant for association with its owners and for its architecture.^[7]

The C. J. Prescott House, at 12 Hickey St. in Virginia City, Nevada, is a historic house that was built in 1864. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It is one of the oldest houses in Virginia City, one of few surviving from Nevada's pre-statehood era, and having survived the "Great Fire" of October 26, 1875.

It was built by C.J. Prescott, who owned an early lumber company serving the Comstock Lode. It is a 1+1⁄2-story wood-frame house with vernacular Victorian/Italianate style, with three chimneys and redwood shiplap siding. At the time of its NRHP listing, its exterior colors were oxblood plus gold and green trim, the original colors of the house from 1864.

It is included as a contributing property also in the National Historic Landmark and NRHP-listed Virginia City Historic District. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.^[9]