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Tonopah is one of Central Nevada's most endearing mining communities. It sprang from silver mining but has continued as the Nye County seat that is the gateway to all of central Nevada. It is located at the junction of US Hwy 95 and US Hwy 6 and serves both the local business needs and the traveler in west-central Nevada.
Tonopah was established when Jim Butler stopped at Tonopah Spring while traveling between his ranch north of Belmont and Klondike, NV in May of 1900. While rounding up his burros that had wandered away from his camp he found them next to an outcropping of ore. As usual for the time, Butler took a sample to have analyzed later. While this first sample was declared worthless by an assayer in Klondike a second sample was assayed by Butler's friend, Tasker Oddie and these samples showed values from $50 to $600. Mining was crude at first with the miners using windlasses and hand-cranked buckets to raise the ore. Some examples of these can be found today at the Nevada Central Museum located on the east end of town.
The ore continued to provide good results and by 1907 a bustling town had been built including five banks, hotels, cafes, opera house, schools, lavish gambling palaces, and many other supporting businesses. Tonopah also became the supply point for miners and others in central Nevada.
Mining continued until WWII when most western mining was stopped to support war efforts. Total production was at least $150 million dollars making Tonopah very rich indeed.
During WWII, Tonopah was a central training area for the Army Air force and there are still 3 excellent examples of WWII aircraft hangers out at the Tonopah airport. These magnificent wooden hangers can be seen as you approach the airport from any direction. The Tonopah airport was the WWII base which was donated to the town to keep as long as it was not sold for development. It is a fine example of the period. The Central Museum has many artifacts from the military training done in the area including prototype guided bombs and pieces of crashed aircraft.
