The Fourth of July in Goldfield, NV

Old age or target practice?

The recreation complex getting ready for the cook out

Closed and weather beaten

Some folks decorate their old vehicles

Some folks like to add a sign or two to their building

Welcome to Goldfield

GOLDFIELD, NV - - The Fourth of July means that we are in Goldfield, NV for our annual relative (Lydia's) visit.  As always, the Goldfield Volunteer Fire Department hosts a cook out and everyone else brings a dish (lunch or desert) to be shared. And a good time and good food was had by all.
     Earlier in  the day, Lydia and I did our usual wander-around and discovered some things new and lots of things from years past.  Folks here like to decorate things...mainly buildings and  vehicles.
     Of major interest was the recently opened (April) Goldfield Visitor Center.  For a location of about 300 hardy souls, this is a shining example of trying to bring more interest and visitors to town.
     Goldfield, which started life as a tent city of miners called Gran Pah, quickly became Goldfield in 1903 with the discovery of the shiny yellow metal.  In 1907 it was the largest city in Nevada (20,000) with 49 saloons and two undertakers.  At one time, five railroads were operating to/from Goldfield to locations as far away as Las Vegas and Ludlow, CA
     The town was back to nearly no one when the gold (and silver) fizzled out and Mother Nature threw a flood and major fire into the mix.  Still, by today's measure metals worth $2 billion were mined in the area from 1901-40.