"Looks like we made a new friend! After stopping to chat with the postmaster in Tuscarora, her friendly Boxer came out to greet us. We named her "Lady." The dog, not the postmaster. A few rounds at the cemetery, a few rounds through town and Tuscarora is yet another town added to my places visited in Nevada. The list is surely, sweetly, supremely growing." -- May 2009

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Along SR 226, 1/4 mile north of Midas-Tuscarora Rd. Elko   40.845224, -114.208479

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Original Date Visited: 5/18/09
Signed: Both lanes of SR 226

Notes: Marker 48 is nothing short of a missed opportunity by the SHPO. Hunters will be disappointed after driving all the way out here to discover that the actual marker is eight long miles outside of Tuscarora. Even worse, the SHPO oddly placed 48 north of the Tuscarora turnoff, which means most people may not even see the thing when they make the pilgrimage to see the old town. Spin around the Street View below to take a look at this ridiculous placement!

The target audience traveling in this neck of the woods is most likely going to Tuscarora anyway, but for some odd reason, they placed it well outside of the town! This doesn't make any sense because the SHPO has managed to place certain markers into these old mining towns before. Interestingly, even the locals at Tuscarora have expressed interest in moving the marker to their town. Moving Marker 48 to Tuscarora would insure it stays protected from vandalism in this rather remote location. This same practice has prevented the destruction of many rural town markers such as 52, 159, and 160 just to name a few.

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Here's what you'll see!

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  Marker 48 leaves a lot to be desired

Exact Description:
This colorful historic camp originated with 1867's discovery of placer gold by John and Steve Beard. In 1871, W.O. Weed discovered the rich Mount Blitzen silver lodes, two miles northeast of the Beard claims. The camp was named by C.M. Bensen, who had served on the Civil War gunboat, Tuscarora, namesake of a tribe in the Iroquois confederation.

Tuscarora's first boom, 1872-1876, boosted its population to 3,000 whites and a like number of Chinese. Hordes of the latter had swarmed here on foot from Elko in the summer of 1869, abandoned by the Central Pacific Railroad after its completion. They started extensive placer operations at the Beard discovery site, later called Old Town, to differentiate it from the main camp two miles distant on Mount Blitzen.

Estimates of silver and gold production during the camp's lifetime, 1867-1915, ranged from $10 million to $40 million. Principal silver mines were the Navajo, Belle Isle, Argenta, Commonwealth and Grand Prize. The only gold mine, the Dexter, opened after the principal silver strikes and operated continuously until 1898.

Toll roads, crowded with stagecoaches and long strings of heavy freight wagons, serviced the camp from railheads at Elko, Carlin, Battle Mountain and Winnemucca.

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