Nevada's First Gold Discovery

"sigh Another marker squeezed inside Old Town Dayton. It would be nice to have some variety in this very large county! It looks like Old Town Dayton was on the SHPO's "favorites" list. In comparison, the SHPO refused to locate a single historic marker in Genoa. Hmm. It looks like the State of Nevada has already decided its winner for "Oldest Community ..." -- May 2008

234 Main Street, Lyon County Sheriff's Dept. -- Dayton

Original Date Visited: 6/17/08
Revisited: 11/14/22
Signed: No

Notes: The great thing about Old Town Dayton is the sheer amount of fascinating plaques and interpretive signs you'll find one after another. My advice is to park anywhere in this area and spend about an hour just walking the streets. Circle back around and you'll come away with not only SHPO markers, but at least two dozen more that are Clampers and granite Pony Express landmarks. Many of these old buildings are also open for business, often with incredible lunch specials and some fine camaradarie. Lyon County has really been trying to get people to come in here and spend some time because this tiny four-block center is sat off US 50 just enough so most people don't even know they exist.

Street View

Here's what you'll see!

Marker 257 celebrates one of Nevada's key moments in history Marker 257 in old town Dayton This inconspicuous location honors our state's first ever gold discovery

Exact Description:
In July 1849, Abner Blackburn, a former member of the Mormon Battalion, made the first gold discovery in what is now Nevada near this site (see the canyon to the right). William Prouse, a member of a passing emigrant party, made a second discovery further up Gold Canyon in May 1850. The discoverers of these placer gold deposits believed the promised riches of California to be greater. Most emigrants consequently continued their westward journeys, but a few returned after finding most of California's Motherlode creeks and rivers already claimed.

By the spring of 1851, some 200 placer miners, including James "Old Virginny" Finney, were working in the area. The continuous occupation of Gold Canyon's mouth makes this site Nevada's first non-native American settlement. Dayton, also known as Chinatown, became a mineral milling, commercial and agricultural center after prospectors and placer miners worked their way up Gold Creek. This monument commemorates the 150th anniversary of the discovery of gold and the thousands of pioneers who passed near this site.

This man right here, Abner Blackburn, may have changed the fate of present-day Nevada forever back in 1849.

Dayton VS. Genoa

COVERED IN MY US 50 ROAD TRIP

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CHARLES W. FRIEND WEATHER OBSERVATORY

Related Links & Markers:

- 7 - Dayton - 163 - Chinatown (Early Name of Dayton) History of Dayton Dayton State Park (Nevada State Parks)

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