The small camp of Lime Point was formed a few hundred yards west of the present town, at an outcropping of limestone.

When new discoveries of gold and silver established the major mining towns of Tonopah and Goldfield, Nevada in the early 1900s, a flood of prospectors returned to Lime Point.

In 1905, the Great Western Mine Company began operations about a one-half mile (0.8 km) southeast of Hornsilver and discovered a rich silver vein which brought a stampede of miners back to the camp.

As deep ore bodies were extensively developed, the town peaked at a population of around 1,000 with over 225 wood-framed buildings, tents and shacks throughout the camp.

It was after this discovery that Gold Point enjoyed its longest period of success, at a time that the rest of America was suffering from depression.

After the war, mining resumed on a smaller scale and continued until the 1960s when a cave-in occurred from a dynamite blast at the Dunfee Shaft.

The old camp is a living history lesson with about 50 buildings still standing, including former Senator Harry Wiley's home and the post office that now serves as a museum.

Nearby nature sites include waterfalls and watering holes frequented by wild horses and burros, Indian petroglyphs, fossils, petrified woods, and a view of Death Valley National Park from Big Molly.