Reid’s Goldfield gambit

Harry Reid is majority leader of the U.S. Senate, meets regularly with the president in the White House and controls the fate of bills coursing through the world's most powerful legislative body.

But for all his lofty political achievements, Reid is a product of small-town Nevada. Raised in the mining town of Searchlight, Reid has a keen appreciation for the state's early history.

So it's no surprise that Reid, when not negotiating health care reform or trying to stimulate the nation's economy, is interested in protecting the decaying relics of Goldfield.

If you aren't well-versed in Nevada history, you might not realize that Goldfield, an almost-ghost town 170 miles north of Las Vegas, once was Nevada's largest and most vibrant community. Before Las Vegas was anything worth talking about, Goldfield had etched itself into the national consciousness.

In 1902, prospectors Harry Stimler and William Marsh staked three claims about 30 miles south of Tonopah. When they hit a rich vein of gold in 1904, the race was on. Thousands flocked to the mining camp called Goldfield, site of the nation's last gold rush.

Goldfield quickly evolved from a makeshift tent camp into a bustling, urban-styled community. "The saloons and dance halls were the busiest places in town," according to the late historian Russell Elliott's "Nevada's Twentieth-Century Mining Boom." "The bars were always crowded and the gambling tables jammed with men."

In 1906, promoters Tex Rickard and George Graham Rice put together a world championship boxing match between Joe Gans and Oscar "Battling" Nelson. The fight, which lasted a record 42 rounds, drew thousands of spectators and journalists to Goldfield, generating massive amounts of publicity.

A year later, Goldfield attracted national attention again when President Theodore Roosevelt sent in federal troops to keep the peace in a long-running labor dispute between mine owners and their union work force, led by the aggressive International Workers of the World.

At its peak, Goldfield's population was at least 20,000, with some estimates as high as 30,000. Either way, for a few years it was Nevada's largest town.

But Goldfield's glory days were short-lived. By 1920, mining production had dwindled to a relative trickle, and the population disappeared accordingly. Unlike nearby Tonopah, which has experienced periods of economic rebirth, Goldfield has endured nine decades of continual decline.

Today, Goldfield has, at most, 350 residents. But it also has dozens of buildings dating to its origins. By Nevada standards, 100-year-old buildings are ancient.

Reid is proposing that Goldfield's treasures be given a degree of federal protection by nominating the town for National Historic Landmark status. Among the important buildings still standing: the Goldfield Hotel, Goldfield High School and Esmeralda County Courthouse, all built in 1907, and the Byler bottle house, built in 1905.

"If we don't do something, many of these wonderful historic features will be gone," Reid said by telephone Thursday.

News of Reid's proposal has received a mixed response from the people of Goldfield. There are advocates such as Virginia Ridgway, a retired journalist and 30-year resident who wants to see the town's history preserved. There also are leave-me-alone libertarians for whom the words "federal government" and "Harry Reid" are the equivalent of "The Russians are coming!"

It's an irrational reaction, fueled in part by conservative talk radio and talk TV's relentless demonization of Reid. But at the same time, one can't blame independent-minded Goldfielders for being a little suspicious.

Don Miguez, president of the Goldfield Chamber of Commerce, says some citizens are wary of Reid because of his involvement with a bill a few years ago to create wilderness areas in Esmeralda County. "There was so much negative feedback that he dropped it," Miguez said.

But a closer look at what National Historic Landmark status entails should calm the critics. Although most of the historic buildings in Goldfield are privately owned, the government doesn't have to buy them. "Land acquisition is not necessary for the establishment of a national park unit," a Park Service report says. "The national park system includes park units in which the NPS owns little or no land." Instead, the Park Service could engage the private owners in cooperative management of their historic structures.

"This is nothing to complain about," Reid said. "It will draw people to that community. It's something we should show off."

Reid envisions a couple of park rangers assigned to Goldfield, an existing or new building to serve as a visitor center, with historic displays and information for visitors. Reid said he would love to see a video produced that documents Goldfield's rich history. "And I would work thereafter to restore some of those buildings that are in a state of disrepair," he said.

Goldfield shouldn't let partisan animosity toward Reid stand in the way of a great opportunity to preserve its history and give the town a much-needed economic boost.

Geoff Schumacher (gschumacher@reviewjournal.com) is the Review-Journal's director of community publications and author of two books of Nevada history. His column appears Friday.