Vacation Day 4: Osceola: Ghost Town

We traveled to Great Basin National Park and went through Osceola on the way.  This is an old Gold mining town, which is now a ghost town without much remaining  It is at the base of Mount Wheeler. We were surprised to see a picnic area around a pond on the other side where the road reencountered the highway.  We took lots of pictures of flowers as we traveled.




Osceola established in 1875was once a main supply area for ranches.  It also produced several million dollars in minerals, gold, silver, lead and tungsten.  Fires have wiped out most of the  buildings.  A hydraulic system was build to help with the mining at a cost of $300,000.  Work was done by Chinese, Paiute and Shoshone laborers.  However the 18-mile canal may not have been worth it.  It brought water from the East side of Wheeler Peak.  It was prone to leak, and also could not run for snow and ice for most of the year.  by 1900 it was abandoned.  1880s fires devastated most of the town and from a high of 500 after the fires the population was about 100.  A later fire in 1950 burned most of the remaining buildings.