Potosi
It is said that the mines at Potosi may have been worked by Mexicans as early as the 1830s, or perhaps by Mormons in 1847, or even long before by Native Americans, but the first recorded discovery was made in 1856. Nevertheless, Potosi holds the title of the first lode mine in Nevada.
In the spring of 1856, a Paiute guide told Mormons at the Las Vegas Mission of a lead deposit on the western slope of the Spring Mountains. Nathaniel V. Jones was sent from Salt Lake City to inspect the deposit, who named it 'Potosi' after his hometown in Wisconsin. A crude smelter was built and a small camp developed far below the mine, and by the end of the year some ore was produced and transported to Utah. Unfortunately, the zinc content of the ore caused difficulties, and the mine was abandoned in January 1857.
In 1861, the Colorado Mining Company erected a large smelter at Potosi Spring and the Potosi townsite was laid out. It soon grew to a camp of 100, but died before the end of 1863. In 1870, the Silver State Mining Company reopened the Potosi mine - now called the Comet - and built a new camp of stone buildings at Potosi Spring which it called Crystal City, which lasted about three years.
While work was slow through the remainder of the 19th century, completion of the new San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad in 1906 brought renewed vigor to Potosi. In 1913, the Empire Zinc Company purchased the mine and installed a new furnace connected by an aerial tramway and baby gauge railway. For the next four years, Potosi became Nevada's largest zinc producer. After the 1920s, work slowed before finally ceasing completely. Potosi's production is estimated at $4.5 million in lead, silver, and zinc.
