RonnieAdventure #0025 - Ward Mining District, White Pine County, Nevada

The Ward Mining District is a great place to visit if you are a history buff. Most people visit the Ward Mining District to see the charcoal ovens (Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park), but the Ward town site and Ward cemetery are in the same general area and less than two miles away from the charcoal ovens on a well-maintained dirt road.  

The boom that brought people to the Ward area began in the Willow Creek Basin area when freighters discovered silver in 1872 while looking for their oxen. By 1975 Ward was the largest town in White Pine County and by 1877 Ward had a population of about 2,000 people. The town had a City Hall, Wells Fargo Office, large hotel, two newspapers, fire department, two smelters, and a stamp mill. As the town developed, an abandoned red-light district house was converted into a schoolhouse. 

When first established, Ward was a lawless mining camp; but quickly mellowed, thanks to a vigilante committee of 601 people. The Vigilante Committed believed in no trial, quick justice, and one hanging rope. After an initial purging of the town's unwanted, the Vigilantes kept the town crime-free with a crime rate of zero.

By 1878 the population of Ward began to decline as the rich ore veins were depleting and new mines were opened in the Cherry Creek Area. By 1880 the population of Ward had declined to 250 people; then on August 18, 1883, a large fire destroyed the City Hall, school, and all of the downtown buildings. By 1885 only one business remained open and the population was about 25 people. The last residents left in 1906 when the mining operations were sold to Nevada United Mines Company. Today, only a few foundations remain at the Ward town site and there are some more recent deserted mining buildings located on private property. If visiting the area, do not enter any mines as they are extremely dangerous and an accident can ruin a really great vacation.  

Rock Foundation at Ward Town Site

 

 Debris at Ward Town Site

 

 Mine Buildings on Private Land

The turnout for the historic Ward Cemetery is located on the north side of the road to Ward, and is well marked. The graves are marked with a combination of wood and stone markers and some of the grave sites are fenced.

 Ward Cemetery

 

 Ward Cemetery

The charcoal ovens that most people come to visit are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and are now part of the Nevada State Park system. The six large beehive shaped ovens are in excellent condition for their age and stand 30 feet high, 27 feet in diameter and the walls are two feet thick at the base. The ovens were built in by Italian masons (called “Carbonari) in 1876 to make charcoal from local timer in support of the smelters. Charcoal was used in the smelters because it burned much hotter than cord wood and required less space to store. Each oven held 35 cords of wood and it took 13-15 days to make about 1,750 bushels of charcoal. After the smelters closed in 1879, the stone ovens were used by ranchers to support livestock, prospectors during bad weather conditions, and stagecoach bandits as a hideout from the local law enforcement agencies.  

 Charcoal Ovens

 

Charcoal Oven Doorway