Crystal Peak
In 1864 the Crystal Peak Company, a lumber and mining firm, laid out the Crystal or Crystal Peak townsite around the area's first sawmill. The location was selected for its position on the Truckee River, just 10-15 miles below the Company's timber stands near where gold and silver was discovered. It quickly became the lumber and mining hub for the region, and even low-grade coal deposits were worked nearby.
The height of activity at Crystal Peak was brought forth by what would also be its undoing: the Central Pacific Railroad. By 1868, Crystal Peak was supplying the tremendous amount of lumber needed for its construction, and the population reached around 1500. Unfortunately, the Railroad also laid out the new town of Verdi, and soon most business shifted to the new location along the railroad. The post office was lost to Verdi in 1869, and though logging would continue well into the twentieth century, Crystal Peak's importance quickly diminished and only the cemetery remains to mark the site today.
