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Tonopah & the Mizpah Hotel

38°04′N, 117°14′W — Central Nevada, high desert on US 95 — silver-mining town; Mizpah Hotel built 1907

What's documented

Tonopah is a small town in Nye County, Nevada, on US Route 95 midway between Reno and Las Vegas, at ~1,840 m elevation. Founded in 1900 after a silver strike, it briefly served as the county seat and a financial hub of the Tonopah-Goldfield silver boom. The Mizpah Hotel, built 1907, was when it opened the tallest building in Nevada. The town's population peaked around 1910 and stands at ~2,100 today. Tonopah lies adjacent to the Tonopah Test Range and is the closest civilian settlement to it.

Public-record imagery

Mizpah Hotel on Main Street, Tonopah. Built 1907; at the time the tallest building in Nevada.
Mizpah Hotel on Main Street, Tonopah. Built 1907; at the time the tallest building in Nevada.Wikipedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Raquel Baranow · 2013
Tonopah, Nevada — town view from US 95.
Tonopah, Nevada — town view from US 95.Wikipedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ken Lund · 2011
The Desert Queen Mine, Tonopah — one of the silver shafts that built the town. The boom of 1900-1920 funded the Mizpah Hotel and the streets that still mark the basin floor. By the 1940s the silver was gone and the town was almost empty when the AEC moved in.
The Desert Queen Mine, Tonopah — one of the silver shafts that built the town. The boom of 1900-1920 funded the Mizpah Hotel and the streets that still mark the basin floor. By the 1940s the silver was gone and the town was almost empty when the AEC moved in.Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova · 2018
The entrance to Tonopah Historic Mining Park. The dark ridges visible east of town hide the Tonopah Test Range — and beyond it, the Nellis Air Force Range and Area 51. Tonopah is the closest civilian settlement to both.
The entrance to Tonopah Historic Mining Park. The dark ridges visible east of town hide the Tonopah Test Range — and beyond it, the Nellis Air Force Range and Area 51. Tonopah is the closest civilian settlement to both.Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · Rick Obst · 2023