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ESMERELDA COUNTY "Ghosts of the Past, Spirit of the Future"
UNINCORPORATED TOWNS Goldfield, Silver Peak, Fish Lake Valley, Coaldale, and Gold Point County seat relocated to Goldfield in 1907. LOCATION: South central Nevada COUNTY AREA: 3,570 square miles AVERAGE ELEVATION: 5,400 feet Local government is strictly the county commission as there are no town boards nor has there ever been a city incoporated in the county. While all three major towns are served by post offices, there are no large retail outlets. Most shopping is done in Tonopah - 26 miles to the north of Goldfield. The county is diverse in its history and economic base. Goldfield, situated on US 95, was discovered in 1901, shortly after the big strikes in Tonopah. At one time the population exceeded 30,000 people. Today the town relies on tourism and its status as county seat. Mining activity has been minimal for the past few years. Land for housing and retail or light industry is plentiful within the town limits. Central Nevada’s only brewery is located in Goldfield. Silverpeak has been a mining town since the early 1860's with two operations currently running, one gold and one lithium. Land is available for "smoke stack"/heavy industry. The town is accessable by a county road to the southeast from Goldfield and a paved state highway to US 95 in the north. The labor pool is trained in surface mining-related areas including heavy equipment operation and specialty fabrication. Dyer/Fishlake Valley has been a farming and cattle area for nearly as long as mining has existed in Silverpeak. There has been some mining and processing in the area over the years. The area is geothermally active and some local operations make use of that resource. The area is connected by two paved roads; a state highway connecting to US 6 in the north which connects to Bishop, California at US 395 and another state highway to the south which connects easterly to US 95 below Goldfield and US 395 below Bishop. Other areas include the mining camp of Goldpoint, the rancheria of Lida and the truckstop(which is for sale) at Coaldale junction. The northern tip of Tonopah in Nye county lies within Esmeralda county.
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POPULATION AS OF 1998* Goldfield................................................................. 475 Silver Peak..............................................................450 Fish Lake Valley.....................................................325 Esmeralda County..............................................1,490 *Estimated HOUSING Single Family detached.....................................234 Single Family attached........................................20 Mobile Homes secured and unsecured........... 520 Total # of individual units...................................89 Agricultural residential.......................................33 HOURLY WAGE Mining.................................................................$15.00 Construction.........................................................12.00 County Employees(plus benefits).........................9.72 County School Employees(plus benefits)..........13.04 State Employees(plus benefits)...........................10.03 Wholesale/retail trade............................................7.00 LABOR FORCE Labor Force.............................................................524 TAXES Corporate income.................................................None Franchise...............................................................None Grocery store food items.....................................None Inventory...............................................................None Estate.....................................................................None Unitary..................................................................None Sales.......................................................................6.5% Real property tax per $100 of assessed valuation (35% of taxable value) Esmerelda County...........................................................$2.8150 Gasoline (per gallon) County..................................................... .04 State....................................................... 18.4 UTILITIES Electricity Goldfield and Silver Peak - Sierra Pacific Power Fish Lake and Gold Point - Valley Electric Propane: Propane available from four dealers Water and Sewer Goldfield - water and sewer available Silver Peak - water system, septic systems Fish Lake - wells and septic systems Telephone Goldfield & Silver Peak- Citizens Communications
(Digital to Goldfield with fiberoptic cable soon) Lida Junction & Coaldale-Nevada Bell Dyer-Nevada bell digital radio link. Cellular service county-wide via Cellular One. TRANSPORTATION MAJOR HIGHWAYS U.S. 95 Northbound - Tonopah, Carson City, Reno Southbound - Las Vegas TRUCK SERVICES Motor Cargo, Fleet Delivery & AndersonTrucking U.P.S. and Federal Express BUS SERVICE K - T Services daily from Goldfield to Las Vegas and Reno connecting with Greyhound AIRPORTS Goldfield, Silver Peak, Fish Lake, Coaldale, and Lida junction airports are short gravel. APPROXIMATE MILEAGE FROM GOLDFIELD TO: Denver, Colorado..............................................933 Los Angeles, California....................................487 Las Vegas, Nevada............................................186 Phoenix, Arizona...............................................500 Reno, Nevada.....................................................265 Salt Lake City, Utah.........................................636 San Francisco, California.................................502 |
CLIMATE Annual average rainfall........................ 3 inches Average Temperatures January average high............47.0 F January average low..............25.0 F July average high.................. 92.0 F July average low.....................76.0 F COMMUNITY SERVICES CHURCHES Goldfield, Silver Peak, and Fish Lake - Baptist Churches Fish Lake - Catholic Services, Episcopalian MEDICAL - In Tonopah: 1 Hospital, Mental Health Clinic, optometrist, 2 dentists SENIOR CITIZEN CENTER - 1 Center in Tonopah, Senior’s vans based in Goldfield, Silver Peak and Dyer. SCHOOLS - K through 8 in Goldfield, Silver Peak, and Fish Lake Valley 9 - 12 bussed to Tonopah LIBRARY - 1 each in Goldfield, Silver Peak, and Fish Lake Valley COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS In Goldfield Chamber of Commerce Historical Society Girl Scouts Order of Eastern Star Montezuma Lodge #30 F & AM In Silver Peak Beta Sigma Phi In Fish Lake Dorcas Woman’s Club RECREATION In Goldfield: Goldfield Park includes picnic area, tennis court, playground, and lighted baseball field In Silver Peak: Tennis court, swimming pool and basketball court- all lighted. Picnic area, baseball field, shooting range, sand dunes, dirt track racing team; "Junk Yard Dog" and petroglyphs. In Fish Lake: Community Center, lighted rodeo arena, park, public hot tubs and picnic areas NEARBY Hunting, fishing, back packing, 4 wheel drive trails, plinking, ghost towns and mining camps. COMMUNITY EVENTS Silver Peak March - Tonopah 300 off road race; July 4 - Town picnic, parade and fireworks; December - Craft fair and Santa celebration Fish Lake Valley Easter weekend - egg hunt, 3 Sat. April - chili cookoff; First Saturday in May - BBQ at Community Center; July 4 - Parade, rodeo, and fireworks; 2 week October Fall festival; Thanksgiving Community wide Potluck Dinner EMERGENCY SERVICES Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office Volunteer fire departments, all 3 communities EMT staffed volunteer ambulance service, all 3 communities, mine rescue, volunteer rope rescue, and Hazmat Team FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Economic Development Authority - Esmeralda/ Nye Counties (EDEN) / Sandy Harmon, Executive Director P.O. Box 153 Tonopah, NV 89049 (775) 482-8139 FAX (775) 482-7389 Email: nveden@aol.comGoldfield Chamber of Commerce Virginia Ridgway, President P.O. Box 219 Goldfield, NV 89013 (775) 485-6365 FAX (775) 485-3542 Esmeralda County Commission P. O. Box 547 Goldfield, NV 89013 (775) 485-3406 FAX (775) 485-6351 |
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