Scott Schrantz wrote...
We call it "The Alamo". Was the water level in Washoe Lake a lot higher back then? This is awful far from the lake, or any other water source.

Rick Cooper wrote...
It is hard to imagine today that there was enough water to run 6 or 7 mills in the valley as well as water needed for as many or more sawmills but news reports of the time talk about avalanches on Slide Mountain with the snow not melting till August so I guess there used to be a lot more precip than now.

vansickle1989 wrote...
I was told this was a check point of some kind for the ore that came from the comstock before the Virginia and truckee Railroad was put through. That When they brought it across the lake on the way to reno that this building acted as a check point... So this was in fact part of a mill?

Rick Cooper wrote...
What I have learned is that there was no water in Virginia City to mill the ore being mined so a wagon road was built to here and a mill built to separate out the gold and silver because of the availability of water and wood for fuel. It was the Ophir Mill and the town of Ophir sprang up. There were 10 or 12 mills in Washoe Valley at one point until the V&T railroad was built and mills were built along the Carson River. Only a period of about 12 years. I have not heard a good explanation of exactly how the railroad changed the dynamic that allowed mills on the Carson River to be more or less practical before or after the railroad.