1881 - Bristol City

Bristol City is situated on the Bristol range of mountains, about twenty-five miles northeast of Pioche. Its distance from Eureka, by the traveled route, is 180 miles, and from Milford, Utah, 120 miles. Ore was discovered in 1870, by a party of Mormons, Messrs. Atchison, Hyatt and Hardy. In 1871 the district was organized, the town of National City started, and a smelting furnace built. The latter was operated only a short time, after which it remained idle until 1878. In the winter of 1877-78 new ore discoveries were made, and in the following March the smelting furnace was started up. A new company was also organized, a water jacket furnace built, and the name of the town changed to Bristol. It has two stores, one blacksmith shop, three boarding houses, a livery stable, post-office, etc., and a population of 100. It is the trading point for about 700 men who work in the mines of the surrounding region. It has no religious organizations, but services are occasionally held by wandering missionaries. The mines of the district are producing about $1,500 per day. One hundred and fifty locations have been made, and about 300 miners are in the district. The veins are found in limestone and quartzite, and run northeast and southwest, obliquely across the formation, and dipping to the southeast at an angle of forty-five degrees. The ores are base, and are carbonized, and contain iron, antimony, lead and some copper. In addition to silver the ores contain a small per cent of gold. The principal mines are the Ohio, Mayflower, Bristol Tunnel Company, Hillside. Bay State, National, Tempest, Tiger, Iron, and Great Eastern. The Hillside Mine has the deepest shaft, 720 feet; in the claim of the Bristol Tunnel Company there is a tunnel 250 feet in length. Freight is teamed from Milford at thirty-five dollars per ton, and from Eureka at forty dollars per ton. Cedar and nut pine are abundant close by. Water is obtained from wells at Bristol, and is hauled a distance of from three to five miles to the mines. The ores are worked by smelting, and by the milling and roasting process. The present facilities for working ores consist of the smelting works, and a ten-stamp mill with a Howell roaster. Both establishments have a total capacity of forty-five tons per day. The records of the district are kept by William Roe.

Extracted, 2021 Aug 25 by Norma Hass, from History of Nevada, published in 1881, pages 488-489.