38.525276672520114, -118.62546878836815

Ostensibly named after William A. Hawthorne, the first permanent settlement was established here in 1880 by H. M. Yerington, as a division and distribution site for the  Carson and Colorado Railroad. The location was near Knapp's Station [or Knapp's Landing], near the mouth of Cat Canyon [according to Sue Silver's Mineral County, Nevada Vol. 1] at or near the ferry landing at Walker Lake, and on the Esmeralda Toll Road going to Candelaria and beyond. Although the Reno Evening Gazette maintained in 1981 that there was some mystery as to which persons name Hawthorne the city was named after-- John, William, M. M., or L.A-- railroad historian Richard C. Datin maintains that it was, in fact, William who lent his name.

But in order to be a railroad town, a railroad is required.

SUMMARY OF DOINGS ALONG THIS NEW RAILWAY
The Carson & Colorado Railroad is still being pushed to Hawthorne-- its present objective point-- at the rate of a mile and a quarter per day. The end of the track is now about 55 miles from Mound House, and 50 from Dayton. The construction train only makes one round trip a day. On some days it makes a trip and a half, but on such occasions the train remains in Dayton overnight. As soon as the end of the track reaches the north end of Walker Lake contracts will be let for cutting 12,000 cords of wood for the use of the railroad.
-Reno Evening Gazette, January 29, 1881

At last the railway was completed and the selling of lots in Hawthorne could commence. Please, no women or children. You know how they are!

HO! FOR HAWTHORNE!
CARSON & COLORADO Railroad
THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1881
SPECIAL EXCURSION TRAIN
--- WILL LEAVE--
MOUND HOUSE at 7 A.M. FOR HAWTHORNE
Returning the Afternoon of same day. Special trains to connect with such Excursion Trains will leave Carson and Virginia at 6 A.M. After arrival at Hawthorne an
AUCTION SALE OF TOWN LOTS
--- WILL TAKE PLACE ---
TERMS OF SALE, CASH
o Maps of townsite of Hawthorne will be furnished upon application to the undersigned
o FREE TICKETS from Mound House to Hawthorne and return over the C. & C. R. R. will be issued to proper applicants at Railroad Offices in Carson and Virginia, also at Mound House and Dayton
o This Excursion being given solely for business men, to enable them to examine the Company's line, the country through which it passes, the location of Hawthorne and sale of Town Lots, notice is hereby given that none others than business men are desired
o Boys, Ladies, or Children will not be permitted on the Train
o Fare will be collected over V. & T. R. R. to and from Mound House
o Fare from Reno to Mound House and return $3.00
H.M. Yerington, Gen. Supt.

As Aurora began to decline, Hawthorne became the County seat of Esmeralda county. But in 1907, with the population of Goldfield having increased to 20,000 and the mining boom producing vast quantities of gold, that town became the county seat. In 1911, Mineral County was carved out of the northern portion of Esmeralda County, and Hawthorne once again became a county seat, this time, of Mineral County. To see the formation of Nevada counties since statehood, just click here for a simple GIF file with maps furnished by mycounties.com.

Aurora was not pleased to lose county seat status.

ESMERALDA'S COUNTY SEAT
How the News Was Received in Aurora and Hawthorne.
Nothing so stirs up the inner consciousness of people as the removal of a county seat. The transportation of the county seat of Esmeralda from Aurora to Hawthorne for some reason or other did not cause the same hilarity in Aurora as it did in Hawthorne. The Aurora Herald pensively remarks:

By the decision of the Supreme Court, historic Aurora. once the pride and bullion producing camp of Nevada, has been shorn of its proud and deserved prestige. Even those who were anxious for the change felt—on receipt of the news —that they had lost something that could not be replaced, and a general gloom fell upon the community here. The frigid atmosphere around the Herald office caused the boss and employees to exclaim in one breath, `O, golly ain't it cold.'

In Hawthorne the case was different, artillery was fired, rockets mounted the azure atmosphere and nineteen men out of twenty decided to get blazing drunk if the liquor in town held out. A man who was there says he never saw a town to given over to the reign of alcohol and hilarity in his life. At 4 o'clock the next morning the rush and riot of the scene was as intense as ever. It seemed to be a contest between the amount of whisky in town and the inhabitants of the lucky city. When the APPEAL'S informant left the liquor was beginning to climb up in the apex of the tussle and he felt certain that it would come out ahead. The Bulletin office was serenaded about a dozen times, Mr. Campbell having worked hard for the bill during the session. If the paper comes out in time this week it will be looked upon in Aurora as a grand piece of journalistic enterprise, the typos are still celebrating and refuse to be rounded up by the boss.
-The Daily Appeal, July 3, 1883

Naturally, a court house needed to be built.

The Hawthorne Court House.
G. A. Troy was in Wadsworth yesterday hiring bricklayers. He got six men, and is going to Hawthorne to do the brick work on the new court house. The contract for the building was let to G. M. Babcock of Oakland for $32,000. Troy gets $11,000 for the brick work. Condon & McIntosh are after the mill work. Callahan of Virginia City is burning 300,000 brick, at $18 on the ground. He is also furnishing 60,000 to the Cory mine.
-Reno Evening Gazette, August 17, 1883

Apparently there was some concern over perceived shenanigans but everything turned out all right.

THE COURT-HOUSE.
The Court-house trouble is about over, and little more explanation is needed. Messrs. Mattingly and McNett saw their duty and performed it fearlessly. In answer to the charge that the investigation was a move to stir up litigation through the stoppage of work on the building, it is only necessary to state that the work is going on and is at present conducted in a manner satisfactory to the county. In this connection it is but fair to the mechanics at work to say that, so far as the mechanical part of the work is concerned, aside from the bad job in the vault, nothing better could be asked. Mr. Concanon, the foreman, came here with an excellent reputation as a skillful mechanic and has, by the character of his work, fully shown that the reputation was deserved. Regarding the payment to Mr. Babcock, it may lie as well for the people of the county to understand that, instead of receiving nothing on the work of the first month, he received $10,000. The work amounted to about $5,000, and in order to facilitate payments, the Funding Commission made a contract with him for placing the bonds. He agreed to place them for one and one-half per cent and received a warrant for $450. He also received from the Funding Commissioners bonds to the amount of $10,000. For these, as he had been paid for placing them, he owed the county their face value. This sum he was permitted to retain by the Commissioners in consideration of the accommodation, but with the understanding that it would be counted as money received on the contract. Otherwise he would have been continually ahead of the county. The work for the next month amounted to about $12,000, making a total of $17,000. Now, if the Commissioners had paid Mr. Babcock $9,000, as was demanded, he would have received $2,000 more than the sum to which the work and material furnished amounted. The District Attorney and Commissioners McNett and Mattingly simply did their duty to their constituents in their action in this matter. No county officer has a right to go aside from the plain path marked out for him by the statutes, and while the officers mentioned did not think that Mr. Babcock contemplated any wrong, they had no alternative but to act according to the law and protect the interests of the county, whose business they are managing. The nonsense about star chamber proceedings needs no reply except the false statements regarding the appointment of D. R. Munro, the new architect. This appointment was made in open Board on the afternoon of time last day of the session. A rather mixed report of the proceedings has been published, in which the curious actions of those interested in having the crooked work at the Court-house continue was smoothed over as much as possible. There was also an intimation that but a few of the taxpayers were interested in the movement. That but a few signed the petition was because even one signer would have answered the purpose. Nearly every man in the county would have signed it had it been necessary.
-Walker Lake Bulletin, OCTOBER 17, 1883

Things were dull in Hawthorne for the next few years. Local mines depended on the rail road and kept it in business, while Hawthorne slowly established itself during Nevada's mining decline (1881-1891) and depression (1892-1899).

Now, as the train comes around the Lake, Hawthorne presents a very different and striking scene; instead of a deserted spot in a large barren valley as it was then, the people now see a pretty town with a population of some 500 or 600 souls, who occupy pleasant homes surrounded with flower gardens and beautiful shade and fruit trees, which form a striking contrast when compared with the barren plain that borders it on all sides.
-Walker Lake Bulletin, April 11, 1888

Things in Nevada began to heat up at the beginning of the twentieth century, and discoveries at Rawhide, Goldfield, and other places resulted in booms all around Hawthorne. But what goes around, comes around, and this time it was Hawthorne's turn to be stripped of its dignity, by the up and coming Goldfield.

Some years ago Hawthorne was the logical seat of Esmeralda county, the logical seat. because southern Esmeralda represented nothing. A change came in Southern Nevada. Mines were located which represent 1 millions, more money than the northern part of Esmeralda will show in ten years. As a result Goldfield and the southern camps have increased in population a thousand fold, while Hawthorne or northern Esmeralda has remained stationary. Then why should it not be with southern Nevada in the zenith of its prosperity; with Goldfield paying eighty-five percent of the taxes of Esmeralda county that Goldfield, the center of southern Nevada, should be the county seat of Esmeralda county. She has the mines, first of all, she has the population, she has the wealth; on the other hand, Hawthorne, the present county seat is cut off by the railroad, is cut off by the telegraph company, and it might be said is cut off by Uncle Sam in the post office service. Hawthorne has no bank, Goldfield has four; Goldfield's foot something like $17,000.000, of course Hawthorne's are represented by cipher. While it is true that you would have to travel over two hundred miles from Hawthorne to Goldfield, at the same time do not forget that you have to travel two hundred miles from Goldfield to Hawthorne, and in Goldfield you have 18,000 inhabitants, and possibly 160 in Hawthorne There has been much said of the life of the mining camp. Some years ago, when some of us were boys, the Comstock lode was discovered. It was worked to its utmost from the first. It gave Virginia City life for thirty years. Goldfield in three years has never been developed. True, the Mohawk has been found, other mines have been found but the result is only surface scratching. There is no true mine in the camp because depth has not been attained and only with depth will the permanency of a camp be demonstrated. At the same time every foot of development has produced results, every foot of depth has recorded the history of the camp. This is what Goldfield offers In support of its claim for the county seat. It. can offer other things but the State knows them full well. It is a desert town but it is where Dame Nature planted her wealth and Goldfield men will take it out; is this not enough to give her the county seat of Esmeralda.
-The Daily Appeal, January 28, 1907

Although Goldfield's heyday was short lived, it remained the seat of Esmeralda, as a new county, called "Mineral," was formed. The old court house in Hawthorne is the only court house in Nevada to ever serve two different counties.

MINERAL COUNTY BILL PASSES SENATE
Heffernan Is Only Man Who Registers a Vote in the Negative
FUN IS HAD WITH BELZAR
Tallman Introduces Amendment to Change Name to That of Belzar
Special (4) the Journal CARSON CITY, Feb. 5-Following the action of the assembly, the senate this afternoon passed the bill creating the new county of Mineral. by subdividing Esmeralda county. The measure passed with but one dissenting vote. Heffernan voting in the negative. No opposition was made toward the success of the bill, but the members of the upper house, in an endeavor to have a little amusement at the expense of Senator Belzar, came nearly to addling an amendment on the measure that would have necessitated its returning to the assembly for another vote. Senator Tallman, following the final reading of the measure, moved that the name of "Mineral" county be changed to "Belzar" county. Senator Mills noticed that the carrying of the amendment would result in the bill having to undergo the ordeal of again facing both houses, and attempted to secure the reconsideration of the motion. This he finally did, only after he had voted to adopt the amendment. A suggestion to name the section "Belzar-Mills" county did not carry. There was not a bit of excitement over the passage of the bill and only a few spectators were present when the vote was taken. Of speeches there was also a scarcity.
-Nevada State Journal, February 9, 1911

Seeing as how it already had a court house, it was probably a shoe-in for the seat of the new county. It almost didn't last very long.

HAWTHORNE NEARLY WIPED OFF THE MAP BY FIRE Yesterday Hawthorne, the county seat of Mineral, was visited by a disastrous fire. The blaze started in the rear of Walter Cole's saloon and soon that building was in flames. The volunteer fire department responded quickly and soon had water on the burning building, but found it impossible to save this structure and tried to save the others. The fire spread rapidly and for a time it looked as if the whole town would be destroyed. Bales of blankets were secured from Adams & Miller's store and were placed on threatened buildings, and by doing this and by tearing down the smaller buildings the fire was finally stopped. The buildings destroyed were: Walter Cole's saloon, loss $2,000; Summerfield Mercantile Co., loss 10,000; Howard shoe store, $2,000; Esher dry goods store, $2,000; George Paslow 's Palace barber shop, $1,000; Boeling drug store, $2,000; Clem Ogg building, $1,000 and Fred Wallace's saloon, $1,000. Other personal losses will make the total loss about $25,000. The Summerfield Mercantile Co., the Ogg building and the Ember store were partially insured. All of those burned out have secured temporary locations and have resumed business. This blaze in Hawthorne is especially unfortunate in that it comes at a time when the town is just recovering from a long period of depression. When the county seat of Esmeralda was moved to Goldfield Hawthorne suffered a slump and only recently the town became the county seat of the new county of Mineral and began to rebuild and recover its former business activity. No homes were destroyed by the blaze, due to the heroic work of the volunteer department.
-The Silver State, June 29, 1911

New Jersey's misfortune became a boon for Nevada and Hawthorne. When the Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot was struck by lightning on July 10, 1926, setting off several million pounds of explosives, destroying 187 of 200 buildings and causing many military and civilian casualties, it was decided to start putting this stuff somewhere else. Hawthorne was selected.

HAWTHORNE PLANT A CERTAINTY
WITH THE exception of the Newlands project the Hawthorne ammunition depot, the construction of which will be undertaken by the navy department this year, is the largest federal undertaking ever authorized in the state of Nevada, and its people will not fail in giving to Senator Oddie and the national administration the full measure of credit due them in the matter. As now projected the plant will cost $3,500,000, and will employ anywhere from sixty-five to one hundred persons after being completed, although in the opinion of Admiral Gregory this number may be increased to as many as 125 as it is expanded. Its location at a distance of 225 miles inland, in a country practically arid with the exception of Walker lake, upon which it will be built, shows how far the shore of the Pacific ocean has been extended into the interior by the astonishing development of modern military methods. For years the government has been storing its explosives for the Pacific fleet at Mare Island, Puget Sound and Pearl Harbor, but as soon as the Hawthorne plant is completed the depots at Mare Island and Puget Sound will be abandoned and Hawthorne will become the principal supply depot for all Pacific fleet operations. Furthermore, according to the present plans of the navy, a large quantity of the ammunition now being carried on the Atlantic seaboard will be moved to the Hawthorne station, where it will he carried during peace times as a measure of safety to those inhabiting the populous Atlantic states. The fact that 12,000,000 pounds of TNT will be moved to Hawthorne, one-half of it from a single Atlantic depot, is evidence of the department's plans to make the Nevada plant one of the very largest in the entire country. Already one Nevada county has felt the stimulus of the new undertaking. With the approval of the state highway department the commissioners of Churchill county obtained permission yesterday to expend $30,000 of their county-state highway funds , for the improvement of the highway leading from Fallon to Schurz, where it will join the , North and South highway leading to the new depot. To this the county will add $50,000 from a bond issue heretofore authorized, and so directly connect the important agricultural Areas of the Newlands project with a fine consuming market. Nor has the state been less diligent in providing highway connections with the Hawthorne area. Within a year, it is believed, the North and South highway, authorized six months ago, will be completed, connecting it with the Reno-Carson-Gardnerville-Yerington district in the north and Goldfield and Tonopah in the south. In all particulars Nevada's success in winning the depot is the most significant since she secured the Newlands project appropriation twenty-five years ago.
-Reno Evening Gazette, May 29, 1928

By 1957, Hawthorne's 70+ year old court house was in serious need of attention. It was decided to build a new court house rather than refurbish the old one.

COURT HOUSE IS COLLAPSING
Legislation Asked To Build New Structure
HAWTHORNE. (Special) Mineral county's venerable court is house is a fire trap and is slowly collapsing under the weight of its 70 years. That, briefly, is the essence of a report made recently by John Webster Brown, Reno structural engineer, who made a general survey of the building in accordance with a grand jury recommendation that such a study be made. On the matter of costs, the Brown report states, "Based on a cost of $30 per square foot floor space, a new court house could be built to provide the same floor space as now available for approximately $210,000. This is I predicated on the assumption that the vault wing would not be demolished and could be incorporated in the new building. It is further my opinion that it would cost at least $160,000 to bring the existing building up to acceptable standards through remodelling."
-Nevada State Journal, March 17, 1957

Babbit

While being surrounded by a military base may give you a warm snuggly feeling at night, it also presents a problem. Room for the town to grow is limited. And if you need to house a bunch of workers quickly, there was no place to put them. So, the Navy built some housing.

HAWTHORNE NAVAL AMMUNITION DEPOT Babbitt Housing Area HABS NO. NV-23 (Page 2)
Part I. Physical Setting of the Babbitt Housing Area
The Babbitt Housing Area, tucked between the far-western Nevada town of Hawthorne and the Industrial and Personnel Area of the sprawling Hawthorne Army Ammunition Plant (HARP), provided shelter and amenities for hundreds of defense employees and their families who came to work at the ammunition plant during World War II. Originally established as Naval Ammunition Depot (NAD) Hawthorne in 1930, the depot experienced tremendous expansion in both its mission and its facilities beginning in 1939, when the threat of world war prompted the United States to produce and stockpile armaments in earnest. When its expansion was completed in the early years of World War II, NAD Hawthorne was the largest ammunition depot in the world (The Rocket, August 1962), extending over 317 square miles of Nevada desert valley. At the same time, NAD Hawthorne's mission was greatly enhanced from its pre-war charge of storing, servicing and issuing ammunition, to wartime duties that included cast-loading munitions and demilitarizing and renovating rockets, mines, and depth charges (Hawthorne NAD, 1976: 8). The enormous tasks of constructing and operating the enlarged facility during the national emergency required hundreds of new workers, most of whom were recruited from outside sparsely-populated Mineral County, Nevada and who therefore needed housing that was not available in the small hamlet of Hawthorne. Recognizing the housing shortage, the Navy embarked upon a "Low-Cost Defense Housing" project consisting of 425 duplexes flanking a central community complex, named Babbitt Court after an early depot commander.
-Historic American Buildings Survey

We've passed through Hawthorne counties times on our way to other historic stops, but we never lingered. Today we made a special trip. hoping to stop at the county museum-- which, of course, was closed. So we spent some time at the free and marvelous Hawthorne Ordinance Museum instead, and chatted up those guys, who seem to always be there. Thanks for that. Although we were counting on the county museum's pamphlet to tell us what was of historic significance and was was just run down and old, we managed to take a few pictures of what we could find. We also had a fantastic lunch at Peppers.