Treasure Hill (White Pine County, Nevada)

As a result, by 1888, there were only 24 people living there, and the principal towns of Hamilton, Treasure City, and Shermantown faded into oblivion.

[8] Staking fever ensued, with "every boomer, promoter, card shark, merchant-capitalist, prostitute and prospector in the West" making a beeline to Treasure Hill.

The crest of the hill was a barren, windswept land before many claimants established their stores, with mining claims and drilling sites every few feet.

[3] A series of towns with populations up to 10,000 people grew up in the county, fueled by the prosperity of the silver mining on Treasure Hill.

[6] A nearby establishment to operate the mines was set up at Cave City at the foot of the hill in 1868; its name was changed later to Hamilton.

Smelting works were built at a cost of $60,000, the furnaces were housed in a big building and a 20-ton capacity and 45 ft long smoke stack was created.

[17] In 1873, a devastating fire swept through Hamilton, which impacted other towns in the area as well, accelerating emigration to other mining regions.

[10] Nonetheless, prospectors later found significant deposits of silver ore in the lower depths of the hill and the industry continued in the late 1870s and early 1880s.

[10] An 1885 fire which gutted the courthouse and much of the rest of Hamilton, however, marked the end of the prosperity and "removed most of the evidence that a rich camp had ever existed there".

This revelation coupled with miners strikes and bad weather conditions resulted in a mass exodus of people in 1870 from the mining belt.