Exploring the Historic Town of Pioche, NV

When it comes to traveling, road trips are my favorite. They’re the best way to slow down, enjoy the scenery along the journey and partake of the local stops along the way. 

On a recent camping trip to Cathedral Gorge State Park, and with yet another rain storm impeding on our camping plans, we cut our trip a day short to avoid the heaviest rain fall and decided to spend our final day exploring the nearby town of Pioche. After enjoying a morning hike overlooking the surrounding desert landscape we took the scenic route along NV-231 into the town of Pioche for lunch and sightseeing. 

Once a booming town of the Old West, Pioche was settled in the late 1860’s following mining booms in the nearby Potosi mine in Eldorado Canyon and the Pahranagat Valley. The town was named after the investor Francois Pioche who bought mining claims of the Meadow Valley Mining Company and the town of Pioche saw two decades of profitable mining along the ‘panacker ledge’ silver deposit, a.k.a. the town of Pioche. 

One thing I’ve always loved seeing as we’d pass through Pioche on previous trips up the East side of Nevada is seeing the mine buckets suspended from cables that pass over the roadway. As we entered the town for our visit, we were greeted by their host, the remaining Pioche aerial tramway, which operated in the 1920’s and 1930’s to carry ore from the mines. This mainly gravity powered tramway cost 6 cents a ton to deliver ore to the mill. 

Descending into the main part of town, our first official stop was The Overland Hotel and Saloon. The footprint of which previously housed a boarding house and bar before, as is the story of many small mining towns, it was lost to a fire in 1947 that claimed, not only The Overland, but one-third of the town. The hotel as it stands today was rebuilt in 1948 and housed a dance hall, grocery store, doctor’s offices, coffee shop, hotel and bar. What remains of the reconstruction now is the massive and beautiful solid hand-carved cherrywood bar and old bank teller’s cage which were brought in from Kimberly, Nevada. Since 1996, the newest owners have spent the years restoring The Overland to its original glory, showcasing solid oak plank flooring and giving the property a number of upgrades.

The cherrywood bar is a beautiful sight, with its stained glass doors and decorative embellishments, but the truth is, the entirety of the bar is something to take in. Details adorn the interior of the bar from floor to ceiling. Rustic bottles line the walls above the bar while red papered walls are home to wildlife displays and Nevada team pride (as well as nod to the Bears and Cubs).

There were no draft beers, but just sitting with a cold bottle, taking in the details that surround us and chatting with the bartender was one of the laid back opportunities that make for a perfect afternoon of simply living in the moment. 

Chilled from our drinks, it was time for lunch, for which we walked across the street to the Historic Silver Cafe, where at the recommendation of the staff I ordered the Paranormal Pastrami and let me tell you…it did not disappoint. In fact, it was a pastrami sandwich for the books. And hearing the brief stories from our server about winters growing up in Pioche provided an extra bit of interest during our meal. 

After lunch we walked Main Street and Lacour Street, checking out the historic sites of the Gem Theater, Thompson’s Opera House, Million Dollar Courthouse and the Mountain View Hotel, which despite it’s compromised structure, I was completely captivated by and couldn’t get enough of.

All the while as we walked the quiet streets of this 1,000 population town, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that this quiet isolated town was once considered one of the roughest and deadliest towns in the country. In fact, the influx of miners, the remote location and the confusion over mining claims led to rampant gunfights and in 1871-1872 when the town of Pioche reached its peak, it made up for nearly 60% of all reported murders in the entire state of Nevada: a stark contract to the town of Panaca only 12 miles away which was founded as a Mormon agricultural colony. Due to county seats and borders, as prospectors came to Pioche and staked claims, sometimes these claims overlapped prior claims. This land confusion led mine owners to resort to hiring guards and gunfighters to protect their mining claims and potential fortunes, thus the influx of violence. Local town legend says the town violence claimed the lives of 75 men with their boots still on before anyone in Pioche ever died of natural causes. This legend also is the lore behind the cemetery name; Boothill Cemetery.

All in all, this brief visit was more than a lunch stop. It was a chance to connect with some of Nevada’s history and slow down the pace of things to imagine what life must have been like when hopeful fortunes laid underground and landscapes and nature determined your fate. 

As we made our way down from the 6,000-foot elevation town, the sky darkened and the rain began to settle in, just in time for us to call it for this trip and head back to the city.