Pioche, Nevada

• Boot Hill Cemetery
• Commercial Club
• Lincoln County Court House
• Masonic Hall
• Old Faithful #279
• Old Fire Hall
• Old Pioche Hospital
• Pioche (state historic marker #5)
• Pioche Aerial Tramway
• Pioche’s Boot Hill
• Pioche Grade School
• Pioche Heritage Park
• Pioche Town Hall
• Pioche Town Park
• Post Office
• The Railroads of Pioche
• Pioche by Address

In 1864, prospectors led by a native Paiute made the first silver ore discoveries in the surrounding hills. The wild rush of prospectors and fortune seekers drove the population to nearly 10,000 by the early 1870’s.

Pioche was known as one of the toughest and most lawless towns of the west. Hired gunmen were often recruited to ad- dress disputes over mining claim locations and encroachments. It has been reported that 75 men were buried in Boothill Cemetery before anyone had time to die a natural death.

Pioche is named after Francois L. A. Pioche, a French financier and mining owner-operator, who constructed one of the first smelters in the area and formed the Meadow Valley Mining Company in 1868.

Silver, gold, lead and zinc comprise the primary minerals that were extracted throughout the area. As with many mining camps, boom and bust periods were commonplace through the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. In the early 1870’s, Pioche was the second leading producer of silver west of the Rocky Mountains. The last boom period for Pioche came with the onset of World War II as precious minerals were mined for the war effort. At that time, Pioche was second in the nation for lead and zinc production.

Pioche was designated the seat of Lincoln County in 1871. As one of Nevada’s most historical ghost towns, it provides a subtle reminder of the colorful, volatile and sometimes deadly, days of the mining boom.