Johnnie, Nevada

Johnnie is an extinct town in Nye County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place.[1]

History

The Johnnie settlement was established in 1890 when a group of five prospectors were exploring the area in search of the lost Breyfogle mine. Outcrops of gold were discovered in the nearby Spring Mountains, and the discovery led to a rush of miners to the area. The community was named after Indian Johnnie, an acquaintance of early prospectors.[2] By May of 1891, a hundred people were in the camp. Houses, stores and saloons were built. A post office was established later that year.[3]

Availability of water was a problem for the bustling camp. Water was retrieved from a spring four miles away, packed in canvas bags and hauled back to town by donkeys. The camp started to decline after 1893. The settlement revived in 1898 when new investors bought the two largest mines in the district, the Johnnie and the Congress mines. After 1904, Johnnie was swept up in the rush to the area near Goldfield and Bullfrog. A post office was reopened in 1905 and a new town site was established closer to the mines. In 1907, the town had a population of 300. The Johnnie mine and mill continued production until 1914. Placer gold was found in gulches every few years and the area was worked off and on for the next thirty years. The Johnny settlement had less than 10 people by the late 1930's.[3]The Johnnie post office was discontinued in 1935.[4]

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Johnnie
  2. ↑ Federal Writers' Project (1941). Origin of Place Names: Nevada (PDF). W.P.A. p. 56.
  3. 1 2 Paher, Stanley W (1970). Nevada ghost towns and mining camps. p. 324.
  4. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Johnnie Post Office

Coordinates: 36°25′11″N 116°04′18″W / 36.41972°N 116.07167°W / 36.41972; -116.07167

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