Tonopah, Nevada
| Tonopah, Nevada | |
|---|---|
| CDP | |
View of central Tonopah from the south
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| Nickname(s): Queen of the Silver Camps | |
| Motto: Visit Today & Mine Away | |
 Tonopah, Nevada, is located in the Tonopah Basin near the Nye County border. |
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 Tonopah, Nevada
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| Coordinates: 38°4′2″N 117°13′48″W / 38.06722°N 117.23000°WCoordinates: 38°4′2″N 117°13′48″W / 38.06722°N 117.23000°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Nevada |
| Government | |
| • Senate | Mike McGinness (R) |
| • Assembly | James Oscarson (R) |
| • U.S. Congress | Mark Amodei (R) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 16.2 sq mi (42.0 km2) |
| • Land | 16.2 sq mi (42.0 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 6,047 ft (1,843 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 2,478 |
| • Density | 162.1/sq mi (62.6/km2) |
| Time zone | Pacific (PST) (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 89049 |
| Area code(s) | 775 |
| FIPS code | 32-73600 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0845985 |
| Website | http://www.tonopahnevada.com/ |
| Reference no. | 15 |
Tonopah is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Nye County, Nevada, United States. It is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 6 and 95, approximately midway between Las Vegas and Reno. In the 2010 census, the population was 2,478. The CDP has a total area of 16.2 square miles (42 km2), all land.
The European-American community began circa 1900 with the discovery of silver-rich ore by prospector Jim Butler. The legendary tale of discovery says that he went looking for a burro that had wandered off during the night and sought shelter near a rock outcropping. When Butler discovered the animal the next morning, he picked up a rock to throw at it in frustration, noticing that the rock was unusually heavy. He had stumbled upon the second-richest silver strike in Nevada history.
Men of wealth and power entered the region to consolidate the mines and reinvest their profits into the infrastructure of the town of Tonopah. George Wingfield, a 24-year-old poker player when he arrived in Tonopah, played poker and dealt faro in the town saloons. Once he had a small bankroll, he talked Jack Carey, owner of the Tonopah Club, into taking him in as a partner and to file for a gaming license. In 1903, miners rioted against Chinese workers in Tonopah. This resulted in China enforcing a boycott in China of U.S. imported goods.
By 1904, after investing his winnings in the Boston-Tonopah Mining Company, Wingfield was worth $2 million. When old friend George S. Nixon, a banker, arrived in town, Wingfield invested in his Nye County Bank. They grub-staked miners with friend Nick Abelman, and bought existing mines. By the time the partners moved to Goldfield, Nevada and made their Goldfield Consolidated Mining Company a public corporation in 1906, Nixon and Wingfield were worth more than $30 million.
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