Broken Hills

Mineral County

Broken Hills was a later camp. One of the last discoveries of the big Nevada mining rushes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Silver- Lead was discovered in 1913 by James Stratford and Joseph Arthur. If you have not read Ghosts of the Glory Trail by Nell Murbarger, I highly recommend it. She was a pioneer of NV. Ghost Towning and wrote that book in 1956, I believe. Murbarger spent time with Maury Stromer, who was the last remaining resident of Broken Hills. She tells the stories of the camp using Stromer’s own words. Such a lack of water leading to it costing $2.50 a barrel. That was a lot of money back in those days. In 1950, as a very old man, Maury Stromer was still descending 140 feet vertically into his shaft and hauling 350 pounds of ore back up to the top. Maury finally moved on in 1952.

I've included a photograph of the gravesite of an individual named Matt Costello. The story goes that Costello never really caught a financial break. He finally had some luck and sold a claim for approximately $1,500.00. That was a lot of money in 1926. A short time passed and his friends hadn't seen him. They found him lying dead at the kitchen table. They gave him a funeral and bought him a headstone and a nice iron fence to surround it. His grave is located near his cabin. Nothing remains of the cabin today.

Post Office:  December 1, 1920 to October 15, 1921; June 16, 1926 to February 28, 1935

Last Trip/ Road Conditions:  April 2013. We were on our way to Virginia City and made it in my wife’s sedan.