Lida

Esmeralda County

Gold was first discovered in the area in the 1860's. A mining district was formed by 1867, but the actual town site for Lida was not laid out until 1872. Lida boomed and many businesses moved in. There was some ore processing that took place locally, but much of the ore had to be sent to towns like Austin and Belmont. By the late 1870's ore had declined and after 1880, Lida was in decline. The town hung on at a very small level until the boom at Goldfield in the early 20th century. This brought people back to the area. Lida boomed again. A water line was run between Goldfield and Lida. A stage line to Goldfield was established and a newspaper called the "Enterprise" also operated here. Legal disputes over claims disrupted production in the area. Prior to World War I, Lida was again active. Numerous businesses moved back in. To include schools, stores, a hotel and several mining companies. By 1932 the Post Office closed for its final time.

Another interesting aspect about Lida is that the first post office opened here in 1873. It was given its designation as Inyo County, California for a little over a month.

Post Office: March 17, 1873 to April 25, 1873 (as Inyo Co., Ca.); April 25, 1873 to December 14, 1918; September 21, 1921 to November 30, 1929; August 8, 1931 to July 30, 1932.

Last Trip/ Road Conditions: We used to cut our Christmas Trees here for many years. Out of all of the times that we've been to Lida, the photos below are the best that I could come up with. My theory is as follows: If you are going somewhere for the first time and may never go back, you'll take a thousand photos. But if you go somewhere all the time, you'll probably only take a few or no photos. A person may take it for granted that it will always be there for them. This is very true for me with Lida. There is a very rural paved highway that runs through here. The dirt roads that take you to the relics at Lida have always been fine for us. With that said, there are dirt spur roads all over this area. They are not all the same. You have to look at each one on its own. There are cows around here. I saw a guy from California almost plow through a cow near Lida a few years ago. If you hit a cow out here, it's a long way from anywhere and cell phone service isn't great. So drive safe.