Gold Hill Hotel

The mining camp of Gold Hill sits on the southern extension of the Comstock Lode and was always overshadowed by Virginia City to the north. Even so, it had its share of top-producing mines, and some mining even continues today.

Gold Hill is also the site of the eponymous hotel, the oldest hotel in Nevada. The oldest part of the hotel, a brick and stone structure, dates to the early 1860s and is still in use. It now holds the great room (lobby) and bar. The wooden additions on the south and west, which house the current rooms and restaurant, are much newer, dating from the late 1980s.

The headframe and an old cabin associated with the Crown Point mine sit directly behind the hotel, and the cabin is also part of the lodgings. The headframe for the Yellow Jacket mine is visible about 700 feet to the southwest, and the Kentuck mine is about 300 feet west, across the Virginia & Truckee railroad track.

On April 7, 1869, a fire started around the 800 feet level in the Yellow Jacket mine, probably from a misplaced candle (the only illumination technology in those days). It rapidly spread to the adjacent mines as the workings were interconnected in the subsurface, and at least 35 miners perished. This remains the worst mining disaster in Nevada history to this day.

The hotel and associated mine cabins are said to be the site of paranormal activity and have been featured in several television programs.