"(#92) I don't say this about a lot of places, but truthfully there isn't a whole lot here. And I'm sure my conscience will kick my ass when I get back." -- July 2009

At the junction of US 95 and Candelaria Rd, 16 miles south of Mina

Mineral
38.208000, -118.001140

Original Date Visited: 7/18/09
Signed: Both lanes of US 95

Notes: Welcome to west-central Nevada: the home of wild burros, vast stark vistas, and long drive times. Marker 92 is one of the more remote markers in the system, and yes ... while it's fair to say that Nevada's rural markers are all indeed remote, there are still a few wild ones that require a decent amount of time to conquer properly. This is one of them being absolutely nowhere near anything and just well enough off the beaten path. Top off your tank in either Tonopah (1.25 hours south), Bishop (CA) (1.75 hours southwest), or Hawthorne (1 hour north) and soak in that lovely loneliness!

Street View

Here's what you'll see!

Exact Description:
Seven miles to the west lie the ghost towns of Candelaria and Metallic City.

Candelaria was presumably named after a mine of that name located in 1885, and also after the Catholic Candlemas Day. Metallic City, the "sin city" of Candelaria, and also known as Pickhandle Gulch, lies 3/4 mile to the south Candelaria. The name, pickhandle, was derived from the most popular weapon used for settling disputes.

In 1880, Candelaria was the largest town in the immediate area and boasted of having 3 doctors, 3 lawyers, 2 hotels, 6 stores and 10 saloons. Water piped from Trail Canyon in 1882 caused the price of water to drop from $1.00 to $0.05 per gallon.

The leading mine, the Northern Belle, was first located in 1864 (relocated in 1870). It is reported to have produced an estimated $7 million, mainly in silver.

A Tribute to Candelaria

Sadly, hardly anything remains of the dusty, miserable mining camp of Candelaria. This old girl consists of mostly lowly ruins, wood piles, and scant foundations, although the few intact structures are pretty impressive! We're adding this here because many of you will be tempted to visit the old town, but please know the entire town site of Candelaria is owned by the Kinross Gold Mining Company and these people enforce a strict "no trespassing" policy at the town site. In recent years, they've really cracked down on this and have even told people to leave although visiting the cemetery is absolutely legal!

A shining light gleamed in 2010 when a local non-profit group purchased the land surrounding the cemetery officially opening the small cemetery to the public. However, up until a few years ago every inch of the old town was under surveillance. People routinely patrolled the road leading to Candelaria and even had people posted near the town's historic cemetery. The line of public and company land sits a few hundred yards north of the cemetery, but Kinross has a tendency of staking ownership of this as well, mainly to keep you ... the effervescent marker hunter ... away from your own heritage. My advice? If you see a Kinross official (which is a good chance you will), simply ask politely if you can visit the old cemetery. As for the actual townsite you can see the ruins in the distance, but they are off-limits to the public. Don't tempt it, folks. A fence is located directly adjacent to the cemetery declaring the strict private property line. So remember, although we must grit our teeth please obey all of these signs.

The doctor's office is the best set of ruins in Candelaria today. Unfortunately, more than ninety five percent of the town has been demolished my modern-day mining companies. Local non-profits have fought to preserve this particular ruins and the cemetery to mark the presence of this very harsh, inhospitable old mining camp.