Editorial: Recognizing Nevada’s golden past

Sunday, Dec. 25, 2005 | 8:21 a.m.

At a time when the Las Vegas Valley can't seem to get enough of growth and all that is new, a small Nevada mining town has received state accolades for being old.

Goldfield, located 182 miles north of Las Vegas along U.S. Highway 95, has been added to Nevada's State Register of Historic Places. The old mining town, which now has about 400 residents, was home to some 20,000 people during its heydey in the early 1900s. At its peak, Goldfield was the nation's largest producer of gold.

To many Nevada residents and visitors, Goldfield is a seemingly uninhabited town through which they drive on the long trip between Las Vegas and Reno. For many it probably is known best for the 25 mph speed limit along its main drag, which is also U.S. 95, and the handful of hulking brick buildings that sit along or near the highway.

One of them, the 97-year-old Goldfield Hotel, has been the favored restoration project of a few modern owners, the most recent of whom is a Northern Nevada rancher who bought it for $360,000 at public auction in 2003.

An interest in restoration and preservation of Nevada's historic mining towns has brought in property owners from California. One couple is working to restore the old Goldfield bank -- possibly for use as a hotel and restaurant for corporate and weekend retreats.

Other Goldfield enthusiasts, such as Dave and Dorothy Stowell, who were featured in a Las Vegas Sun story in May, bought an early 20th century home and have ended up staying for decades. The Stowells are embarking on their 30th year as full-time Goldfield residents.

We are glad to see that the state has granted long-overdue historic recognition to one of the mining towns that helped put Nevada on the national map. After all, Goldfield has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. It also is encouraging to see that people consider Nevada's past a worthy investment of their time and money. Such interest can help breathe new economic life into the tiny towns of the state's rural interior, and bring these colorful old places a new kind of heydey.