Rochester, Nevada
Coordinates: 40°17′20″N 118°10′13″W / 40.28889°N 118.17028°W
Rochester, Nevada, was a silver-mining town in Pershing County, Nevada, USA, approximately 110 mi (180 km) east of Reno. It is now a ghost town. Lower Rochester is still accessible to visitors, but was largely destroyed by a wildfire in 2012; Upper Rochester has been buried under mine tailings of the more recent Coeur Rochester open pit mine.
Rochester is the collective name for three different sites: Rochester Heights, Upper Rochester and Lower Rochester, spread out along a 3 mi (4.8 km) stretch of Rochester Canyon. When gold was discovered here in the 1860s by immigrants from Rochester, New York, there was only one camp, at the upper end of the canyon. Later this became known as Rochester Heights (often, along with Upper Rochester, called “Old Town”). Exploration and mining was on a fairly small scale from the 1860s, with the ore processed on a small scale, or shipped by wagon to larger towns for milling.
Although there was always a presence of sorts in Rochester from 1861 on, it was not until a discovery by Joseph Nenzel of rich silver ore in 1912 that Rochester became a true boom town. By November 1912, as word of the find spread, people streamed into the area. The town expanded and Upper Rochester came into being, as well as the beginnings of what became known as Lower Rochester. Rochester Heights was soon lumped in with Upper Rochester, and those towns became collectively known as Old Town, with Lower Rochester being the new town. Rochester Canyon is a fairly narrow canyon, with steep slopes on either side of the narrow canyon floor, and so the camps tended to spread down the canyon, rather than outwards. As more and more people came to the area, the two camps soon boasted saloons, hotels and other businesses. Upper and Lower Rochester became thriving mining sites, with a population exceeding 1,500. Most of the commercial district was in Upper Rochester, with Lower Rochester having the mill and other mining support facilities. The town boasted of having The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
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