Saturday, April 20, 2013

Vanishing Communities #2 Taylor, Nevada April 2013

                                  One of the unreadable graves at Taylor

The second community I am going to highlight for this series is Taylor, Nevada, in eastern Nevada. It is located 18 miles south of Ely in the Schell Creek Range.

History: Silver mining occured in the Taylor District for 10 years from 1880 to 18889. Silver ore was descovered at the Monitor and Argus mines in 1880. The town would not become a boomtown until Cherry Creek and Ward, Nevada, declined in 1883. From 1883 to 1890 Taylor had saloons, butcher shops, restaurants, boarding house, Wells Fargo Office, drug store and school. Unlike Pioche to the south, Taylor was quiet with very little violence. Daily stage coach service transported people north and south.
                Similar to other mining communities mining declined because of lower metal prices. By 1889 most businesses at moved to Ely, Nevada. Today there are no remnants left of the original town except for a small cemetery. In the cemetery only one headstone is actually readable. The other headstones were made out of wood and they have long since decayed or have become unreadable. I have included in this blog a page from one of the directories at the cemetery with records of people who might be buried in the cemetery. Today the location of some of the graves is a mystery. Presently, there is mining going on near the cemetery so watch for trucks on the dirt road to the cemetery. (Information from Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps By Stanley Paher) 

                                          The only readable grave in the cemetery
 
                                    The cemetery which is slowly succumbing to the elements

                                   A page from the directory at the cemetery. What is interesting is Amos Horn who was killed by a Grizzly Bear in 1888.

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