Coaldale is a former mining town and true

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in Esmeralda County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, located at the junction of

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbered Highway System. While it ...

and

U.S. Route 95 U.S. Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland ...

about west of Tonopah.

History

Coal was discovered near Coaldale in 1894 by William Groszenger who sold 150 tons to the

Columbus Marsh Columbus Marsh is a playa in Nevada, United States. William Troup (or Troop) discovered cottonball borax at the site in 1870 or 1871. Joseph Mosheimer and Emile K. Stevenot, who operated one of the borax concentrating plants at Columbus, hired F ...

Borax works. In 1911, the Darms Mine and the Nevada Coal and Fuel Co. mines were in operation. Coal was found 4 miles SSE of Coaldale in the north end of the Silver Peak Range. In the early 1900s, there was renewed interest in the coal, when Dr. Frances Williams of

Goldfield, Nevada Goldfield is an unincorporated town and census-designated place and the county seat of Esmeralda County, Nevada. It is the locus of the Goldfield CDP which had a resident population of 268 at the 2010 census, down from 440 in 2000. Gold ...

personally restaked claims. At the time, Groezenger retained the majority of the claims. In November, 1917, the Darms Mining Company asked the Nevada Railroads Commission to secure a rate of $3/ton to deliver coal from Coaldale to Reno. The

Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad The Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad, a railroad of in length in the U.S. state of Nevada, offered point-to-point service between Mina and Goldfield, running over the Excelsior Mountains and parallel to the Monte Cristo Range. It operated fro ...

replied that while they had grave doubts about the value of the coal, they offered two plans: 1) where one or two cars would be transported to Tonopah, Goldfield and Reno and if the coal was usable, then a rate would be established for future shipments, or 2) a temporary rate of $6.35/ton would be used, which was the Reno to Coaldale rate. In February, 1918, Darms replied that the seam was too small to take advantage of either offer. In the 1940s, Eldon and Jewel Parson operated a gas station near the

grade. They later moved their operation about to the junction with Highway 95. The restaurant and bar buildings were part of a hospital in Tonopah and trucked to Coaldale. Coaldale had a store, cafe, motel and service station as late as 1993, but they are now abandoned, though still standing. Residences and other buildings have disappeared. The service station was closed down due to EPA testing in 1993 that found that its underground fuel tanks were leaking. Soon, the restaurant and motel closed, since the service station was the primary attraction for travelers. At some point before 2006, a fire destroyed the restaurant.

Trivia

In 1994, the movie The Stranger was filmed at Coaldale. The Stranger features Kathy Long, female kickboxing champion, who battles bikers and saves the town. Wcd0313b

References

External links

ghosttowns.com: Coaldale
{{Coord, 38, 01, 39, N, 117, 52, 59, W, type:city_region:US-NV, display=title Ghost towns in Esmeralda County, Nevada Ghost towns in Nevada

History

Trivia

See also

References

External links