38.973056, -117.755833

From Fallon:Highway 50E from Fallon 47 miles to Middlegate and the junction of Highway 361; Turn S on SR361 for 29.9 miles; left on SR844; east on SR844 for 8.8 miles; left on forest road, head north for 7 miles.

The Ellsworth district was organized in 1863 during the Civil War. The district includes Ellsworth and the smaller camp of Marble Falls. Ellsworth actually included the camp of Ellsworth and a rival camp called Upper Weston (also known as Summit City) which developed nearby. It was referred to earlier as the Mammoth district, and named after a Colonel Ellsworth. In the early 1870's a mill was completed which increased activity in the area. Supplies were freighted in from Wadsworth over a toll road.

The district's towns actually started with a little burg called Weston.

The first camp at the Mammoth silver discovery was laid out in February 1864 by Hatch, Evans, and others who had worked their way south from Big Creek (near Austin). By June an aggressive little rival camp had sprung up near the mines. The Nye County News of Ione watched with interest the struggles of the two little camps named Mammoth (later Weston) and Ellsworth, and reported without bias the developmental propaganda being thrown out by the promoters. From Mammoth we hear the following:
To the population of the town some important additions have been made of late, a number of families, some of them having much worldly substance, having moved in with the intention of making it their permanent home. What with a few women and children, and other betterments, the place begins to put on quite a civilized and Christian look; and if the mines only turn out half as well as they seem to promise, this now primitive rather quiet town will soon begin to show signs of activity and growth.
-Gabbs Valley, Nevada, Ruth Danner

As usual, it took a while for everyone to agree on a name.

Small as Mammoth is, it has already a suburb, or rather, perhaps, we should say a rival, in the town of Ellsworth, laid out last May, by Messrs. Hatch and Evans, and adjoining it on the east. Its population consists of several families, and it boasts improvements of many neat cabins, besides a few camps pitched by miners, preparatory to a more permanent style of abode. Ellsworth has the advantage over Mammoth in a greater tract of level land for its site and proximity to ledges so far discovered, but it has not the water, at least on the surface, enjoyed by its neighbor; a rather serious drawback, though plenty and of excellent quality, can be obtained at a depth of from twenty to forty feet. There are two wells in the town, now yielding a bountiful supply, and there is no doubt but water can be got at a moderate depth any where in the bottom on which the town has been laid out.
The proprietors of Ellsworth have adopted a liberal policy in the disposal of lots, giving parties who desire to go into any permanent business, their choice of lots anywhere in the town, and to miners or others, merely wanting a residence, any they may select, except corner lots. In the matter of selecting a name the proprietors of Ellsworth have been more happy than those of Mammoth, the latter term being any thing but appropriate considering the inconsiderable dimensions of the place. We would recommend them to seek some other appellation for their pleasant little hamlet, more suited to its present limited size and less suggestive of the huge but extinct quadruped whose name it now bears.
-Nye County News, July 2, 1864

A resident of Weston wanted everyone to know the facts.

Our town, notwithstanding the hard times, continues to improve, several new buildings are in the process of erection, and many others in contemplation. We have at present fourteen houses, two black-smith shops, and a hotel which has recently been opened by Mr. Ilisick formerly of Long Valley who is erecting a large stable and corral in the anticipation of a great amount of travel over the Wellington Road, during the latter part of the summer and fall. Our little suburban neighbor, Ellsworth, of which we are justly proud, can boast of two houses and a covered wagon, and may eventually with proper nursing grow up into townhood. By the way, Mammoth is not the name of this town as an article in your last issue has it, but simply of this mining district. The christening of the town and may be future city, has been deferred for various reasons until quite recently, but by general consent of its citizens will hereafter be known as Weston, and the correspondents will govern themselves accordingly.
-Nye County News, July 9, 1864

Eventually, people stopped talking about Weston.

ELLSWORTH is in Mammoth District, thirty miles south of the old overland road through the Cold Spring range of mountains, and about twelve miles westerly from lone. It contains a post-office and stage station. Ore was discovered in 1863 by the Indians, and in 1864, Sam McKeon, A. T. Hatch, and others, organized a district. The town was started soon afterwards, but its growth was slow and discouraging until 1870, when a ten-stamp mill was built. Its population then increased to 200, and it became very lively. Since 1874 the mill has been operated only a portion of the time, and the population of the town has dwindled down to twenty persons, including six miners. The quartz veins are found in a formation of granite, which runs northeast and southwest, the veins running with it and dipping to the west at an angle of forty-five degrees. The ores are mostly free-milling, and average about 1100 to the ton. The principal mines are the Peoria, Morning Call, General Lee, Silver Wave, Mount Vernon and Lisbon. The greatest depth of shaft is in the Mount Vernon, 180 feet. When the mill was in operation, Indians were employed at the pans, settlers, concentrators and furnaces, with a couple of white men to oversee them, and proved very efficient laborers. The cost of wood delivered at the mills, has usually been three dollars and a quarter per cord. Salt is worth thirty-five dollars per ton. Water for the mill is obtained from a forty-foot well. Some very rich ore has been taken from the Esta Buena Mine, located and owned by Don Manuel San Pedro, of Grantsville. Some of it has gone as high as $1,600 per ton. Several tons worked in the mill yielded $325 each. The nearest railroad point is Austin, sixty-five miles to the. northeast. Freight is brought from Wadsworth at the rate of fifty dollars per ton. - History of Nevada 1881

One more overview. Mining activity here didn't end until during World War II.

History
Indians discovered silver in the hills west of Ione in 1863 and the area was organized as the Mammoth Mining District in 1864. Two small camps sprang up, one called Ellsworth and the other Weston. The two camps grew and merged into a single community which took the name Ellsworth. The town experienced slow growth through the late 1860s. The slow development of the mines was due to the high cost, $50 to $60 per ton, of shipping the mined ore to custom mills. After the construction of a 10 stamp mill in 1870, Ellsworth's first boom started. Soon the town had a population of over 200, 2 ten stamp mills and a chilean mill. By the mid-1880s the boom was over and the population began to decline. The post office closed on Dec. 29, 1884. The principal mines during this period were the Morning Call, General Lee, Peoria, Lisbon, Silver Wave, Mount Vernon and Esta Buena. After the turn of the century the only activity was custom milling of gold ores from other districts and mining scheelite ore at the Bright Star Mine and wolframite ore at the Jewel Mine. Ellsworth struggled along until 1923 when the Tonopah-Brohilco Mines Corp. began work on the Silver Leaf and Gold Reef mines. Ore in the Silver Leaf averaged $25/ton and that from the Gold Reef averaged $50/ton (Hall, 1960 and Kral, 1951). However, this high grade ore was not sufficient to keep the mines open and the Brohilco Co. folded in 1925. The Return Mining Co. was also active in the area at this time. In 1924 they sank a 240 foot shaft on $35/ton ore and built a twelve stamp cyanide mill. Their operations shut down in 1926. The last gold mining operation in the area was at the Flagstaff Mine. Between 1928 and 1942 ore from the mine reportedly averaged $55/ton (Kral, 1951 and personal interviews). In 1933 Donald Benton sold the Flagstaff Mine to Jim Corlett who had been operating a custom mill in lower Ellsworth. War Production Board Order L-208 forced Corlett to close down his operation in 1944. Corlett then started mining tungsten at the Jewel Mine. Upon his death, ac. 1970, mining activity in the district ceased.
-The Mines and Geology of the Ellsworth District, Ben Viljoen, June 1990


More on War Production Board Order L-208 here.

And so it begins.

Mammoth District, the proceedings of a meeting for the formation of which we published last week, is situated twelve miles west of Union. It has not yet been thoroughly prospected, but some promising ledges have been discovered.
-Gold Hill Daily News, January 9, 1864

Outside interests are beginning to take note.

VALUABLE DEED.—The editor of the Nye county News has recently been shown a deed for mining ground in Mammoth District, on which there were over $1,500 worth of stamps. The deed was lately received from New York. by the Recorder of that county, to be placed on record. Thus Eastern capital is coming into our new districts. We way look for many such deeds to come from the East to be recorded in this State during the next year. People in New York and Boston. who have a few hundred thousand dollars to spare. are beginning to find out that silver mining is more profitable than business which pays only six and seven percent per annum.
-Gold Hill Daily News, July 31, 1865

Let's get some mail goin' on here.

LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES
Passed at Third Session of Fortieth Congress
An Act to establish certain post roads.
That the following be, and the same hereby, established post roads:
From Cortez to Gravely Ford
From Wadsworth, via Stillwater, to Ellsworth
From Argenta to Austin
-Carson Daily Appeal, May 15 1869

This was still the Wild West, and you really don't want to torque off the native population if you can help it.

ANGRY INDIANS.
Fears that They Will Attack Downievilie In Nye County.
The Grantsville (Nye county) Sun says: "There is no denying the fact that the Piutes about Mammoth and Grantsville are very angry about the shooting of the squaw by the man Hubbard. The bucks are leaving here for Mammoth every day and very few Indians can be found in this vicinity. The squaws have also disappeared. We are informed that from 250 to 300 bucks are about Ellsworth, and that they are to have a great fandango or dance in a few days. We endeavored to learn yesterday from several bucks whom we met why they were going to Ellsworth. They merely answered, 'Piutes go by Mammoth!' At present there are not over thirty live men in Downeyville, and if the Indians should attack the place in large numbers they might overcome the citizens before help could reach them from other camps."
-Silver State, March 24, 1879

Mining continued, but things would slow down soon.

Grantsville Bonanza: Work is progressing steadily in the Esta Buena mine at Ellsworth under the management of Superintendent Dan Murphy. Developments will be made shortly in this property that will surprise outsiders. Bullion shipments will be in order about June.
-Pioche Record, January 28, 1882

MINING ITEMS. The Esta Buena mine at Ellsworth, Nye County, has contracted for a generous supply of wood and other material, and the mill will soon start up. A good body of ore is reported struck. The town has a healthy look and is increasing in population.
-Eureka Daily Sentinel, March 10, 1882

Harries and Nichols will soon start the East Bueno mill at Ellsworth.
-Walker Lake Bulleton, September 19, 1883

THE MT. VERNON MINE.
Capitalists Taken Hold of it and Work to be Pushed.
It is stated on good authority says the Belmont Courier, that the owners of the Mt. Vernon Mine at Ellsworth, Nye county, will soon resume operations, as capitalists from the east have put up the money for working the mine in a systematic manner. There has been $7,000 expended by the original company on the mine. It has a shaft of 159 feet 7 by 9 ; a tunnel of 700 feet, and the tunnel level has been prospected for a distance of 500 feet. About 66 feet below the tunnel level the Kohinoor ledge has been intersected and a crosscut has been run 300 feet toward the Alhambra lode. The Superintendent Captain Robert Knapp firmly believes that by sinking 100 feet more they will encounter a good body of paying ore.
-Reno Evening Gazette, April 23, 1884

Still a bit of mining and development going on.


Baltimore capitalists are negotiating for the purchase of a mine in Ellsworth district, Nye county, and have offered $1,000 for an option on the property.
-Eureka Sentinel, September 8, 1900

Not a huge mill, but enough to get the job done.

WILL PUT IN A MILL
The Reno Journal says Clay Peters is arranging to put in a mill of ten ton capacity at his mine at Ellsworth, ten miles west of Berlin. The shaft is down fifty feet and a ledge two feet wide carrying gold values has been opened up. Near the Peters mine the Piute mine, owned by New York men, is being opened up. A mill with capacity of twenty-five tons a day is being put up on that property.
-Tonopah Bonanza, August 29, 1903

What drew them in was silver, but eventually tungsten and mercury deposits attracted a little attention as well.

The old camp of Ellsworth, Nye county, is the scene of a rush on account of the discovery of tungsten in large quantities. Ellsworth is seven miles from Phonolite and was located in the early sixties.
-Carson Daily Appeal, September 20, 1907

Small-scale mining and milling continued in the beginning of the twentieth century.

ED MALLEY, TRAVELS OVER SIX HUNDRED MILES IN SIZING UP THE TAXES.
Ed Malley, sheriff and ex-officio assessor has returned from a two weeks assessing trip through the northern part of the county and he is well pleased with the status of affairs In every section he visited. Altogether be traveled 620 miles. As a result he predicts a great increase in the valuation of cattle and farms and farm products as the acreage is much greater than it was last year and the crops are better than ever before owing to the heavy rains. The range is also improved to an extent that will guarantee excellent feeding for two years more. In a mining way he was surprised to find what a number of small properties were operating at a profit. among these he ran across "Happy Jack" Barrier and Snowshoe Charlie who are keeping three jacks going constantly with ore they take to a little stamp mill situated at Ellsworth. The boys are sorting their ore pretty close as they are in need of real money and the last lot of ore sent out ran at the rate of $320 to the ton. They have any quantity of $35 rock that would pay to mill but they are not doing anything with that grade for the present. Their claims are ten miles from Lodi.
Tonopah Daily Bonanza, August 26, 1913

RENO MEN TAKE OVER MEXICAN AND ELLSWORTH
The Bluebird Consolidated Mining company of Reno has taken over the old Mexican mine at Ellsworth, 50 miles east of Mina. There is said to be on the mine dump 15,000 tons of mill ore assaying $10.75 to $120 per ton. This ore is reported to have been taken from an inclined shaft sunk 200 feet to water level, where work was stopped. The new company is driving a tunnel to drain the shaft.
-Goldfield News ad Weekly Tribune, July 26, 1919

NYE COUNTY MINE RESUMES
Two different companies dominated by Reno people are starting work at the old camp of Ellsworth, which is located in the Mammoth mining district, Nye county, eleven miles west of lone five miles east of the Lodi nine, and fourteen miles north of the Simon mine. The Bluebird Consolidated Mining company has acquired the old Mexican mine and adjoining claims and is getting ready to continue the tunnel which was driven over 500 feet by John Rost, president of the company, and which is expected to get under the old workings within the next 100 feet.
-Tonopah Daily Bonanza, September 11, 1919

While Burney was having some success with quicksilver, not much else was going on by the time the 1930's had come.

BURNEY REPORTS SUCCES AT IONE
TONOPAH, May 21.—(Special).— E. F. Burney, Ione quicksilver operator, arrived here Thursday to look after the delivery of certain machinery at Mina. He says he is operating a thirty-ton standard and a fifty-ton Hardinge mill on one per cent ore with an excellent saving, reducing the concentrates to a ratio of twenty to one. After eight days experimenting he drew off 110 pounds of quicksilver from 330 pounds of concentrates melted in a small retort. Mr. Burney reports that the tungsten mine at Ellsworth, ten miles west of Ione, has resumed with four men.
-Reno Evening Gazette, May 21, 1929

OPERATING MILL AT ELLSWORTH
Collette and associates are operating their mill at Ellsworth in Nye county on ores from the old Flagstaff mine, two miles to the northwest and are treating ore that averages about ten dollars a ton, it is reported. The Geedesburg Mining Company, composed of San Francisco people, have a bond on the Big Springs mine, between Ellsworth and Phonolite, owned by Peter Brennan. They have equipped the property with a fifteen horsepower hoist and have moved a number of houses to the camp from the Return mine.
-Reno Evening Gazette, January 31, 1933

I'm thinking Mr. Wood didn't have much luck here.

May Reopen Old Bonanza Silver Mine, Ellsworth
George Wood Reno mining man, has interested men in the east in the old Esta Buena silver mine at Ellsworth, known later as the Blue Bird and has been advised that an engineer will arrive soon to make an examination, Ellsworth is in north-western Nye county in the Paradise range on the west side of Ione valley. It was noted years ago for rich silver ore. The mine, owned by Don Manuel San Pedro, was operated years ago by Colonel Ellsworth, for whom the camp was named. General Grant was one of the stockholders and one of the three incline shafts through which it was worked was named for him Delving into old records, Wood learned that the gray copper ore ran high in silver, up to $1600 a ton. The mine product was packed on mules overland to Sacramento and shipped thence by boat to Swansea, Wales. In later years, after the Central Pacific was built, ore was hauled to Wadsworth at a cost of $50 a ton and shipped to smelters in the United States. Milling ore ran as high as $325 a ton and lower grade was piled on dumps, which was estimated to contain 10,000 tons The deepest workings are 250 feet, work below that level having been hampered by water, it is presumed.
-Nevada State Journal, January 8, 1934

If you have a mill you might as well use it.

Ole Peterson who is operating the Gold Eagle mine near Penelas is reported as having a run a large quantity of gold ore through the Carlett mill at Ellsworth.
-Reno Evening Gazette, September 26, 1936

Ellsworth didn't seem to have much trouble with a water supply, as there are apparently springs all over the place. In fact, the water was still running in one of the toilets. Pulling up to the first group of buildings gives you the very eerie impression that you should call out and ask if anyone is there- some of the buildings are still standing and in pretty good shape. My guess is that some of these buildings were built much later than the boom time for this camp- in fact, some of the additions appear to be within the last ten or twenty years. Definitely an interesting camp with many things to explore. I hesitate to add that it seems like it would make an excellent camp site, if only people would pick up after themselves and not be so destructive, if you get the hint, you vandal, you.

There is a forest service road that goes through here, and it's pretty tame, so there should be no problem with low clearance vehicles. That could change instantly, of course.

January 17th 2006 UPDATE: Special Forgotten Nevada Historical Graveyard Correspondent Todd Easton writes:

Great site. I'm in the area working (from MT) and just love reading stuff like this. I have sort of a perverse hobby where I look for old isolated cemeteries and try to document the "residents". So in fairness a little about Mr James Donovan who I saw had a headstone in Ellsworth. In the 1930 Census for Ione he is listed obviously as a miner. Ten years earlier he was living in Tonopah. He was from Ireland, immigrating in 1901; naturalized in 1906. The neat thing though is that he has a WWI registration card that indicates his birthday was Sept 1 1885. He had a cousin Mrs E Sheehan in San Francisco. When he registered his home was the Harlangton Hotel in Tonopah and he worked at the West Tonopah Mine. Tall, medium build with blue eyes and black hair. Looks like he was single from at least 1910 on; and he probably never thought that anyone would care about him this much.

June 2007 UPDATE: Special Forgotten Nevada Field Operative Don. C. reports that some brain-damaged cretins have stolen the gates. You'd think that a person might be smart enough to realize that it would be easier to make a similar gate, rather than steal these and haul them 100 miles, but the people that do this kind of thing aren't exactly known for their intellect. For these people, I give you The Ghost Town Curse.