We were on our annual fall camping trip with plans to
explore ghost towns in Montana. Then the
weather went bad and we decided to migrate south. We spent a day in Wells, Nevada and searched
for ghost towns in the Spruce Mountain mining district.
We were looking for Sprucemont, about 10 miles from the
nearest paved road, and got into a maze of dirt roads on Spruce Mountain. When the roads got worse we decided to turn
around and look for another route, and I spotted the remains of this log cabin
high on a nearby ridge. It is an unusual
double cabin, which makes me think it could have been part of a string of
businesses along the town’s main street.
The other side of the cabin has collapsed, and most of the dirt roof is
gone.
We looked uphill and saw other structures. These were much newer frame buildings, which
had all been vandalized, and a few had totally collapsed. The weather was heavily overcast with a storm
moving in, so the light wasn’t very good, but then the clouds broke, and I got
a decent photo of this old house.
Sprucemont began about 1870 when several mines were started
on Spruce Mountain. By 1887 there were
five saloons here, but just a year later, mines were closing and Sprucemont was
nearly deserted. In 1899 the Monarch
Mining Company was started, and Sprucemont came to life, but was again nearly
deserted by 1913. In the 1930’s a third
period of mining started, and continued through about 1952. By 1961 the district had ceased all
production. This helps explain the
different building styles we see at Sprucemont.
The big log cabin likely dates from the first or second era, and the
frame buildings from the third.
The people who lived in Sprucemont had a million-dollar view
of the East Humboldt range. The cloud shadows crossing the valley seemed to
emphasize the immense space of the valley at the base of Spruce Mountain.
From here we continued up the mountain to find the Monarch
Mine. I will try to post that adventure
in a few days.
Please remember, these photos are copyrighted. I will allow them to be used for charitable
purposes, but charge reasonable fees for personal use.
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