Virginia City Nevada history revisited Tourist Style

on this episode of history hunters Jeff and Sarah check out historic Virginia City Nevada the silver mining boomtown join us on this the second of three episodes on Virginia City as the couple visits famous C Street and the st. Mary's of the mountain Catholic Church built in the 1860s [Music] [Applause] [Music] saris resting against this foundation it's building made by rocks seaming it together of that breaks [Music] everyone have you gone back in time this is a very cool building over here a hardware store there's a bet tall brain behind me whipping people on the streets leave that guy I think there's got to be a fight right here in town [Music] [Music] this is a I'll make money everywhere that sound commercial enterprises Nevada Bank of San Francisco 1862 now one of my favorite shots full of science they go Johnny Cash flipping off the camera Folsom Prison oh these are fake to make them look old NW root beer order me up just about any sign you can think of back here Mickey Mouse appear in barn dance I have a feeling Mark Twain would get a kick out of the fact that in 2018 his image is being sold on posters so we're waiting here the Red Dog saloon tab pizza and I think I lost my appetite my son just sent me an app shows how I'm gonna look what I'm like 90 a plastic the Red Dog saloon formerly the Comstock house gambling hall played a role in the history of the psychedelic music scene in the 1960s it was known for its drug-fueled musical concerts The Charlatans were the first psychedelic rock band to play live while on LSD but gig inspired the San Francisco hippy revolution very cool historic buildings over there is a jackass somebody wants to make money with by Ellen pictures taken with this has been a tourist trap for a number of years probably since the 40s 50s and 60s people started to realize the nostalgia that's here from Ponderosa Ranch obviously there's no areas known as the Bonanza for all the mining but Bonanza TV show was not filtered deep viewing in 1959 Bonanza was situated on Ben Cartwright's fictional Ponderosa ranch on the northeastern shore of Lake Tahoe the show ran 14 seasons making Bonanza NBC's longest-running Western the show's popularity prompted the building of a theme park with a ranch house replica in 1965 near Incline Village 15 episodes were shot there was known as the Bonanza here because of the silver mining but also because this was also the Comstock Lode the Comstock Lode was named after Henry Comstock who came in in 1859 and purchased some holdings here and he found a lot of gold by the time he sold it he was a rich man this is the Bonanza saloon and the Bonanza cafe Sarah's over here in front of the Silver Queen so learn at hotel [Music] okay in the earthy early 1860s the territorial Enterprise newspaper office was located in this building Mark Twain worked here from 1862 to 1865 as you can see inside there hopefully there's Mark Twain : copies the territorial enterprise it's got to be noted that Mark Twain was a newspaper reporter but because there wasn't a lot to write about at times he would make up stuff he would make up MERS murder suicides and he upset a lot of people by doing that because obviously newspaper reporters are supposed to report the truth and he was just making up stuff he actually started learning how to write fiction in this area it's still kind of difficult to believe that the International Hotel was right here but it up right next to that building there and was such a Grand Hotel I don't know how it did not survive but it it was probably the most majestic building here at Virginia City now the site of a parking lot where they charge $7 to park all day kind of crazy how time does that to a place just wipes it off to face the earth the first hotel was a 14 room wood structure built in 1860 and dismantled 1863 a second hotel a hundred room for story brick building was destroyed by the Great Fire of October 1875 the third one opened March 1877 with a hundred sixty rooms and six floors complete with hot and cold running water steam heat gas lighting and the first hydraulic elevator in Nevada two blocks east of here once those Chinese community of almost 2,000 people who came to Nevada to do some mining a lot of them I understand came here after they were finished building the Transcontinental Railroad between California and Midwest so the next block up there is the old Piper's Opera House where prostitute julia boule attended a production that I she was murdered when she refused to take a seat in the designated area for the ladies of the night she was escorted out she walked down this street Union Street to have dinner with a friend near her home at the corner of DM Union that night on January 19th or early January 20th 1867 she was bludgeoned to death by someone who stole her jewelry over there's the bucket of blood saloon so the world-famous buck in a bunt blood saloon is right behind me I went in there and took a look at it it's just your typical bar and saloon and a couple of slot machines in there they yeah I never thought that the bucket of blood sounded like an appetizing place to have a beer I love the narrow tall brick buildings that are still here at the top you can see they're almost crumbly having all the miners in this area they often drown their sorrows and beer and so there were a ton of saloons in this area it looks like the Delta saloon is closed I believe this is where this suicide table was I believe the suicide famous suicide table was moved to a different location but the famous Delta saloon is closed it says here the first saloon was rebuilt after the big fire of 1875 gotta love the old ornate work on these old doors so I found out that the famous suicide table has been moved from the adult discipline Delta clothes because it was explosion and it's been moved to the Bonanza so I'm gonna go in the Bonanza here and see if I can find the suicide table [Music] [Music] there's a suicide table supposedly people killed themselves over the losses at this table says that three owners have reportedly committed suicide because of heavy losses over the table originally a Faro Bank table brought to Virginia said in the early six 1860s Wow gives a history of the things that happen when people go overboard and lose a lot of money it's pretty beat-up the table I've heard about this suicide table since the 1960s when I first came here Virginia said he's a kid so I'm gonna go across the street and show you the newer territorial Enterprise office where Mark Twain did not work so Mark Twain actually left Virginia City in 1864 and this building over here was put in place about that time so don't think that Mark Twain actually worked in this building but they're billing it as where he worked the territorial Enterprise building up there it says 1858 established but it was not in this building my understanding again is that Mark Twain left after this billing was put in place so as you see here on his plaque dedicated in 1964 by the publisher of the territorial Enterprise Sam Clemens left this area and moved to California where he did some mining in the Tuolumne County area he was a reporter here from 1863 when he first used the pen name Mark Twain he later described his colorful adventures in Nevada roughing it but again my understanding is a he had already left by the time this was here everybody's capitalizing on the name of Mark Twain obviously this is important area because this is where his writing career began this is the side of that territorial Enterprise newspaper office but again I think Mark Twain had left in 1864 when this building was actually finished and became the newspaper office [Music] this plank down here talks about dandak will one of the early writers with Mark Twain over here this white boy is Mark Twain casino I wonder what mark for the thought about his name being used for the saloon yeah I'm pretty sure that he drank but there's a strange bear fairy like to make up a lot of stuff he can also dish out a lot of the kitten but he couldn't take it in fact when he came back to this area I believe it's 1868 they staged a robbery as he was coming over this mountain they stole his watch he thought it was a real robbery and he found out later that the joke was played on him he was extremely pissed off sometimes you have to look low to catch the history of a place that down here are these old fluted columns that are stamped with the names of the manufacturers this one here is from the Gold Hill foundry and over here is the UI works of the Truckee and Carson 1875 it's in front of an apparel shop [Music] the candy shop they have barrels and just candy everywhere they encourage you to put it in a bucket they dump it and weigh it well you don't really realize what you're getting into tell me hi Mark Twain T so as a western-type pulled down here and snapping a whips air my crap out of everybody just trying to get people to come to shell there he is again making everybody jump he's maybe jump yeah somebody called it the hole [Music] she's saying if you hurt me what do I get in the words of force go sometimes there aren't enough rocks but I can tell you that's not the case here there's too many rocks all kinds of crap you can buy here just house Mark Twain saloon and casino so whereas saloon it's a good walk in this old vault from 1864 this is our safe deposit boxes if you want to destroy your gold silver dollars on their name tellers from 1890 here in this building now a saloon as the old miner going to tell you your fortune or something like that this is the Ponderosa salon where the bank Falls there's that dang Virginia's in the original Gold car right here those bikers are loud this church behind me is approximately 1876 it was rebuilt after the great fire of 1875 it's st. Mary's of the mountains Catholic Church [Music] [Music] so this church was originally built a block south of here would be over this direction in 1864 and 1870 they built this brick church but it was damaged by the fire of 1875 and they had to rebuild on this spot they actually made it taller than it was 1876 is when this building was dedicated there's the individual who started this church Montagu way back 1860s [Music] well that fire must have damaged this town quite a bit [Music] and we've been invited to go downstairs to see the museum of st. Mary's of the mountains Catholic Church so I think we're gonna see what's down there right now can you carry me nope I would like to be able to carry her I wish you could so this is a picture of the restoration effort back in 2009 so apparently there was some mad monks of st. Mary's in this 1950s who tore apart the choir loft the altar and the balcony all because they felt that they were too early here's a kneeler used by father Patrick Montagu that goes way back 1870s so this desk was actually used by Nevada Governor James and I we talked about him in the Aurora video his desk is right here it's a church in 1864 right there and of course it burned in 18th no now this one this one they just I've written it and they built this one and then when they came to this one they tore it down okay yeah the I wish they had a picture or drawing or something but they don't but this church here is 1875 this church is 1868 68 they had to fire masonry partners sure that Kendall James a labyrinth at crucifix I'm the belle that we use in that bell tower mm-hm that's survived okay that's a heavy Bell right well here's a picture of it so that's what we heard ringing earlier yeah well I was fascinated to learn the Thursday picture here John McKay who lived into Mackay mansion they say it's haunted I don't believe in that type of thing see really out of place exhibit here historical exhibit of bricks from Fort Sumner course Fort Sumter was fired upon during the Civil War handmade bricks is not amazing those the Ophir mine works Virginia City that believe made John McKay a very wealthy man [Music] so this is the famous Fourth Ward school it was it debuted in 1876 and it was supposedly the pride of all the school systems in Nevada it was designed for about a thousand students K through 12 it included modern ventilation systems at drinking fountains it had indoor toilets played or not in 1909 they added the 12th graders and 1936 they closed this facility but it produced a lot of great students along the way the 1960's have fell into great disrepair and I blame it they started restoring it in making 80s understand 1200 feet below me is the Bonanza mineshaft that produced all the silver the Bonanza period underneath me this whole hillside is scattered with remnants of silver mining operations [Music] here's part of the Virginia and Truckee railroad the dates back to 1860 a newer train station is to house this training [Music] that's very hard to see this billing hair looks into least 100 years old it's falling apart not sure what it is just down the street from the Catholic Church right behind the Silver Dollar saloon what's a red-light district on this block one stood the cribs of Virginia City sporting row they called it near this site in one was house the most celebrated courtesan the Comstock Julia feel like mutiny murdered January 20th 1867 for her jewels by John million the place where she was murdered was taken down a long time ago I understand that she's buried way over there on the side of the hill she was deemed not worthy of being buried with the rest of the town's folk because the trade that she was playing you can't visit this place without sensing that eerie reminder all those who were here I think because many buildings they inhabit are still standing so I came down here thinking this was going to be a historical marker but it seems just a just a pillar of a building that's no longer here the final stop is to check out the lot on C Street where these early day firemen served so earlier I found the grave of fire chief George Hanbridge he was chief of the Knickerbocker Engine Company number five and this sign here says it was right here in this vacant lot for sale which is right across the street from the Red Dog saloon be sure to catch the next episode of history hunters when Jeff and Sarah visit the Mackay mansion reported to be haunted [Music]

Channel: History Hunters

Views: 60,627

Rating: 4.9172635 out of 5

Keywords: virginia city nevada, Nevada history, Bonanza, Comstock Lode, Nevada tourism, Mark Twain, Bucket Of Blood Saloon

Id: yRcfRSS2ucY

Length: 22min 41sec (1361 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 03 2019