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Named after East coast financier John L. Blair who was involved in the area from the very beginning.

In 1906, Blair started growing. At least, Mr. Crumley must have known something-- the hotel he built featured a 30 foot mahogany bar; horseshoe-shaped lunch counter; barber shop with hydraulic chairs, a main dining rom that held fifty people; banquet room; offices; ventilation system; twenty-eight upstairs rooms each with bath and toilet; electric lighting; massive brasss bedsteads and "matresses of the softest hair." Rates were $2 to $6 a day on the European plan. The desription also listed the finest in fire-fighting equipment, but apparently, it wasn't fine enough. Hope they have insurance on this thing, just sayin'.

WILL ERECT MODERN HOTEL.
Ground will be broken in a few days for one of the best built hotels in the State of Nevada. The name of the hotel will be the "Blair" and it will be erected on the new townsite. J. G. Crumley & Company, the owners, will spare no pains to make this the leading hotel in this section. The plans reflect special credit on the architects, Holesworth & Curtis. The "Blair Hotel" will consist of a two story building, 58x100 feet in area, to be steam heated and filled with all modern conveniences such as a bathroom and toilet with each guest room. The second story will have 28 guest roams and a parlor. The down stairs will have a bar room, lobby, club room, dining room and kitchen. J. G. Crumley & Company, the owners, have figured that before they open the doors to the public they will have approximately spent $35,000.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, October 13, 1906

When the mining boom took place in the early 1900's. The Pittsburgh Silver Peak Gold Mining company began purchasing the major mines in the area, and soon decided that a large mill would be a splended thing to have close by. Silver Peak speculators, figuring on taking advantage of this, bought up the land in Silver Peak in hopes that the mining company might buy the land for their mill, allowing them to make a huge profit. Unfortunately for them, however, the mining company was two steps ahead of them, and purchased a townsite north of Silver Peak and named it Blair. They also constructed a railroad spur from the Tonopah & Goldfield main line and terminated it in Blair, just short of Silver Peak.


GOLD-MINING CLAIMS FOR PITTSBURGHERS
Local People Head a Company Formed To Work Rich District in Nevada
The Pittsburgh Silver Peak Mining Copany has just been formed in this city to take over a group of 40 patented mining claims in Esmeralda county, NEvada, about 40 miles from Tonopah.
-Pittsburgh Daily Post, May 26, 1906

One of the oldest properties in Southwestern Nevada, which has recently been taken up by Pittsburgh capital and which will be pushed as an extensive milling proposition, is located at Silver Peak, in Esmeralda county, due southwest in an air line about 30 miles from Tonopah. It lies between the Silver Peak and Lone Mountain ranges, and up to the time the Pittsburghers took charge was as inaccessible as Tonopah itself before the latter town aquired railroad facilities. The Silver Peak mine was formerly owned by John L. Blair, the New York banker. and despite its 250 miles isolation from railroad transportation, it is estimated to have produced more than $1,500,000 gold since 1864 from its upper workings.
Built Their Own Railroad.
The first thing which the new owners did was to construct and equip 18 miles of standard gauge railroad, connecting the mines with the Tonopah and Southern Pacific railroads. The next step in the new development was the establishment of the new town site of Blair, located three miles nearer the mine openings than the town of Silver Peak. Within two months a hundred new frame buildings have been constructed on a site which a year ago was a desert plain between two mountain ranges and absolutely isolated as far as railroads were concerned. The new company was organized as the Pittsburgh Silver Peak Gold Mining Company. Last week it let the contracts for a 100-stamp mill, crushers, cyaniding. and steel buildings. The site is now being prepared for the mill buildings and the machinery and general equipment are under contract to be delivered within a minimum of 60 days and a maximum cf 120 days The cornpany will do its own erection, and hopes to have the mill ready for operation by July next. In the meantime it is building a pipe line for its own water supply. and also an aerial tramway.
-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 19, 1906

With regards to the railroad...

CONNECTING RAILROADS Silver Peak Railroad was incorporated June 20th, 1906 under the laws of Nevada, to build a standard gauge line from Tonopah & Goldfield's Blair Jet. to Blair, Nevada, a distance of 17.5 miles. The road was owned and operated by the Pittsburgh Silver Peak Gold Mine Company. Capital stock authorized and outstanding, $200,000. Directors: M. L. Effinger, R. J. Watson, C. J. Blumenthal, E. B. Cushman, Geo. Bartlett, H. W. Clarke, H. S. Crockett, J. H. Monteath, C. M. Hobbs, L. A. Parkhurst. Officers: E. B. Cushman, Pres.; Geo. Bartlett, Vice Pres.; M. L. Effinger, Sec. & Treat ; A. J. G. Logan, Chief Engineer. The seventeen and one half miles of trackage were purchased from the Tonopah & Goldfield after it had been standard gauged. Construction began immediately and by August 10th, 1906 the graders were half 'way to Blair. Work progressed rapidly, and by October 11th, the first construction train pulled into the camp at Silver Peak, amid many glad "toot toot's" of the locomotive whistle. On October 23rd, the official opening special brought in the rail officials and the Chat M. Schwab interests, on the private car "Plymouth Rock." Equipment consisted of two 4-4-0's, probably ex Southern Pacific, and, at its peak, 20 freight cars. Road had an up and down revenue history, and managed to wind up with a deficit of approximately $260,000; when operations ceased about 1916, after ore deposits were worked out. Last officers appear to be the following : G. T. Oliver, Pres.; Wm. A. Bradley, Vice Pres.; B. A. Rifles, Sec. & Treas. and Gen. Freight & Passenger Agent.
-The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin No. 100 APRIL 1959

Aside from the two 4-4-0's, the Silver Peak Railroad also had one of those cool McKeen motorcars.

The line primarily served the 120-stamp Silver Peak mill. Operating with a two-man crew, the passenger-and-baggage motor car’s leisurely trip over the line took 45 minutes. The fare was $1.75 and in 1912 passengers averaged three per trip. Later purchased by a California lumber company to transport loggers to remote sites, it was cut up for scrap towards the beginning of WWII.
-https://mckeencar.com/gallery/s/silver-peak-railroad/

Let's get George to run things!

The Pittsburgh Silver Peak Mining Company, at Blair, Nev., where it has recently competed a 100-stamp mill, has engaged George Bradley, for many years with the Utah Copper Company, as manager. The Nevada mine operates the largest stamp mill in the State, and it is expected that it will be running to its full capacity before the first of March.
-Los Angeles Times, February 19, 1908

Well, that didn't last very long.

George Bradley has resigned as general manager of the Pittsburgh Silver Peak Mining Company and Edmund Juessen has been appointed to fill the position.
-Pittsburgh Daily Post, March 26, 1909

Do I detect a littel jealousy?

WRONG YOU ARE
The Blair Press quotes flour in Tonopah at $5 per hundred pounds. Make it $4.50 and your paper will become reliable. Oranges sell in Tonopha for 25 cents the dozen, in Blair, 60 cents. Quite a difference.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, January 30, 1910

Like many Nevada towns, McGruff The Crime Dog had things to keep him busy.

Chief of Police Ed Malley yester-day received word that a robbery had taken place at Blair sometime Thursday night, or during the early hours of yesterday morning ani to be on the lookout for a party suspected of committing the crime. The thief, or thieves, entered the Blair Hotel office, after it had been locked up for the night and after breaking open a safe deposit box, confiscated between $400 and $500 worth of special delivery stamps, a quantity of two cent stamp books and about $17.50 in coin. This property belonged to the Blair post-office and was always left in the hotel at night for safe keeping. The authorities in that city believe they have a fairly good clue to the perpetrators of the deed and it is probable that, the arrest will be made in one of the adjoining towns.
- Tonopah Daily Bonanza, February 26, 1910

Enough ore was coming out of the nearby Mary Mine that they built the largest stemp mill they could.

LARGEST IN NEVADA
Blair now has a stamp mill equipped with the largest number of stamps of any mill in the state of Nevada. The addition of twenty stamps to the Pittsburgh Silver Peak Gold Mining Company's large mill makes it a 120-stamp mill. At present ten of these stamps are not yet n service, but it is expected that they will be dropping on ore this month.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, March 9, 1910

Ha! Jealous Tonopah and their tiny mills predicts the demise of Blair! What do they know?

THE DOWNFALL OF BLAIR.
Blair, our neighboring camp, which should be recognized as one of the principal mining towns of the state, is rapidly becoming a one man place, through the efforts of the Pittsburg-Silver Peak Mining company. The company is intending to establish a company store, have constructed a refrigerator plant, own the railroad, and in many ways will make it possible that the employes can only purchase from a company establishment. It is rumored now that a company saloon will soon be started, as well as a bakery, hotel, restaurant undertaking parlors, etc. Of course the employee who refuses to patronize the corpo-ation firms, will receiva his time check. This will ultimately result in strife between the employes and the company which will end in a strike. The members of the Western Federation of Min-ers do not take kindly to an attempt to force them to spend their wages other than they see fit. The business men who have invested their funds in Blair will meet with heavy losses through the one-horse policy of the Pittsburg-Silver Peak, a corporation that apparently cares nothing about the welfare of the town. We give thanks that the mining companies of Tonopah have always taken a different view of the situation, for when ever the question of a company store has been raised here, it has always been promptly turned down.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, March 23, 1910

Blair was no stranger to lawsuits and litigation throughout its life, which hampered business.

BLAIR MINING CASE IN THE SUPREWE COURT
Litigation involving title to the claims operated by the Pittsburg-Silver Peak Mining company at Blair is occupying the attention of the state supreme court at Carson City today. Among the attorneys and interested parties present are Rush Tagrgart and Clarence Mitchell of New York City, John Wheeler and Samuel Kelly of Pittsburg, John W. Dorsey of San Francisco and Attorney Gibbons of Reno. The property involved in this litigation is one of the richest gold holdings in the state. It is equipped with a mill of 120 stamps and has paid off its indebtedness and acquired a splendid treasury. The Gamble case, as it is called. has been in the courts for the past ten years.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, March 25, 1910

17 miles north of Blair was Blair Junction, where the Silver Peak Railroad and the Tonopah and Goldfield railroad met.

R. R. DEPOT AT BLAIR JUNCTION IS DESTROYED
CONSUMED BY FIRE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON; WILL BE RE-BUILT.
Yesterday afternoon the depot of the Tonopah and Goldfield railroad at Blair Junction, was destroyed by fire, the cause of which we are unable to ascertain. Telegraphic communication to that point was shut off for several hours but as soon as the news of the fire was received in this city, a lineman was dispatched and the wires were again placed in working order late last night. The only resident at Blair Junction is a station agent. It is understood that the building will be rebuilt soon.
-Tonpah Daily Bonanza, May 1, 1910

Always hire a licensed contractor!

BLAIR HOTEL BURNED TO GROUND MONDAY MORN
DEFECTIVE WIRING CAUSES DESTRUCTION OF FINEST HOTEL IN STATE.
News was received in Tonopah yesterday afternoon of the burning of the Blair hotel at Blair, which was totally destroyed yesterday morning. The fire started about 5 o'clock and was first discovered in the top portion of the building, apparently having been caused by defective wiring. The only thing saved was a piano and the cash register from the bar. The Blair hotel was opened for business on June 10, 1907, and that occasion was celebrated in grand style. The hotel, which originally cost $70,000, [$2,105,731 in 2021 dollars] has been described as being one of the most complete and handsome hostelries in the state. In fact there is not a hotel in Nevada that could equal it in furnishings, for every convenience was to be had. J. Grant Crumley, Jules Smith, Don Gillies and Martin Effenger were the original owners of the building and the three first named gentlemen still retain their title. Effenger sold his interests to a Salt Lake party. It is understood that the place was insured for $25,000. but this could not be verified yesterday, as all the parties connected are out of the city. Grant. Crumley was notified of the loss by telegraph and is expected to arrive in Blair today, having anni)unced that he would leave Reno last ev-ening. The hotel was being conducted by Pat Flannary and L. P. McKelvey, who had a lease on the building, and who lost quite a sum. It is not known if they carried any individual insurance.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, July 26, 1910

What did we tell you about carrying a shovel?

AUTO PARTY HAS NICE TRIP OVER TO BLAIR,
MOONLIGHT RIDE ACROSS SALT A MARSH PROVED VERY ENJOYABLE.
Marooned on the big Salt Marsh, near Blair, for several hours, was the fate of Newton Crumley and Ed Uren, who left Tonopah at 4 o'clock Wednesday afternoon for Blair, where they were to meet J. Grant Crumley, who was desirous of returning to Tonopah. The party were traveling with "Shorty" Kutzkau in thr latter's new Locomobile. The marsh was covered with water and as a consequence the road was a trifle muddy in places. Several a times the machine became stuck and on each occasion either Crumley or Uren would get out and aid in digging the mud away. Along about 8 o'clock a nice large mudhole was encountered and then the fun commenced. Driver and passengers went to work with a will and, owing to the absence of shovels, all were compelled to use their hands. Their wearing apparel was soon covered with mud and water, and after three hour hard work the auto was freed. The lights of the machine could be seen from Blair and Grant Crumley soon arranged to send out a relief expediition. A one-lung run-about was all that could be secured and it would carry but one passenger. Jules Smith volunteered to act as the rescuer, and with the driver he started out. When within two miles of the stranded auto the one-lunger stopped. Jules and the driver took off their shoes and stockings and waded the entire distance, only to arrive when the delayed party were ready to start. The worst joke of the entire trip happened when rescuer and rescued arrived in Blair. All were hungry and as the hotel had been destroyed by fire it was impossible to find an eating place. The former cook however, managed to get the party some thing to eat and started y cooking ham and eggs. The rag he used to grease the pan, in which to cook the eggs, was one that had been previously used to clean a kerosene lamp. This did not deter the chef from using it and when the eggs were served the odor and taste of coal oil was very noticeable. There was no kick and the weary travelers ate the eggs, coal oil and all. The party returned to Tonopah about 5 o'clock yesterday morning.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, July 29, 1910

SILVER PEAK TO QUIT MARY MINE
COMPANY WILL PURCHASE AND OPERATE PROPERTY ON MOTHER LODE
Within the next fortnight the work of dismantling the 130.stanmp mill of the Pittsburg Silver Peak Mining company, at Blair, 30 miles west of Goldfield, will be in progress and according to the present plans of Manager W. A. Bradley the equipment will be shipped at once to the Rawhide mine, in Tuolumne county, Cal., where it will be installed in a new plant for the treatment of ore from that property, Soon thereafter, it is said, the railroad connecting Blair with the main line of the T. & G. railroad will be "pulled" and Blair will cease to be a railroad point, says the Tribune. The operation of this company's property at Blair, known as the Mary mine, has been unprofitable for some time past, according to reports.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, December 23, 1915



Not everyone gave up though.

SILVER PEAK LEASE PROVES PROFITABLE
PRACTICAL MINER GETS VALUES , WHERE A MILLION DOLLAR CORPORATION QUIT
J. B. Panchini, of Blair, is making a handsome little fortune where a company of millionaires failed to find profit, is dismantling a million dollar mill and stripping the property of all its machinery and appurtenances. Fanchini has a lease on the Pittsburg Silver Peak mine at Blair and is successful to the extent that he has ordered the construction of a ten stamp mill right in sight of the hundred stamp mill that is being wrecked and shipped away. Fanchini is building a ten stamp mill on the foundations of the old Silver Peak mill and expects to be able to treat fifty tons a day, with the possibility of Increasing the tonnage. The ore is coming out of the a Wason tunnel and is said to be better than the average that has been treated by the parent company
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, July 13, 1916

Lots of concrete ruins both at the town site and mill site, spread over a wide area. Easy to get to. We wanted to check out the mine that fed the mill, but the road to the mines in Eagle Canyon is gated and locked.