The post office first opened for business on August 10, 1868[4] while the community was still part of Lander County, Nevada.

Once the shallow nature of the local ore deposits became known, many of the mining companies left the area.

On June 27, 1873, a large fire spread throughout the business district and caused an estimated US$600,000 (equivalent to $15,260,000 in 2023) in damage.

The 1967 episode "Solid Foundation" of the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Robert Taylor, is set in Hamilton.

In the story line prospector Jim Otis (Gil Peterson) fails to find gold but stumbles on, first, outlaws' loot and then silver, some of which was used to construct his house.

Susan Seaforth Hayes was cast as Jim's wife, Martha, who wanted her husband to head back East after three months in the West.