Ione

A short-lived county seat

Ione is in the Ione Valley of Nye County. Nevada State Historical Marker No. 159 says American Indians lived in the valley for at least 5,000 years. Destination4x4 names the Shoshone and Northern Paiute. The marker dates the European American silver discovery to 1863. Destination4x4 credits prospector P. A. Havens and notes that its own page gives both April and November for the find.

In 1864 Ione City became the first county seat of the newly created Nye County. The marker says over 600 people worked in the town until a promising ore body at Belmont drew most miners away in 1865. Belmont took the county seat in 1867. Destination4x4 adds that the town had more than 100 buildings in late 1864, and that fewer than 200 people remained by 1868.

Revivals and decline

The marker calls Ione “alternately prosperous and poor yet never completely deserted.” Destination4x4 lists the later attempts. A 10-stamp mill was built in 1896. In 1897 A. Phelps Stokes bought most of the mining and milling interests in the Union District, and the boom ended in July 1898 when silver prices collapsed. Cinnabar finds in 1912 to 1914 brought the population to about 100. The mill was dismantled in 1950, and the post office closed for the last time on April 30, 1959. Travel Nevada calls Ione the “Town That Refused to Die” and gives a population of 41, without a date.

What remains

Travel Nevada says the original county courthouse still stands. Destination4x4 is more cautious and says only that a barn-like building is rumored to be the original small wooden courthouse. The sources do not agree on this, so treat the identification as unconfirmed. Destination4x4 also lists historic wooden and stone buildings, stone cabins, an old corral and the turn-of-the-century Ore House Saloon. Travel Nevada notes that the town appeared in the 1990 film Tremors.

Visiting today

Ione is a small community, and Travel Nevada gives a population of 41. Destination4x4 says Hugh Marshall acquired most of the townsite and the surrounding 24 square miles in the 1970s. Assume buildings and land are private or occupied unless you have permission, and do not enter structures. Travel Nevada gives a Route 844 address. Destination4x4 describes dirt roads off State Route 91, about 23 miles east of Gabbs. Travel Nevada gives no driving directions and Destination4x4 only a general route, and road conditions change, so check with local authorities or the Bureau of Land Management before going. Travel Nevada says few campsites or RV hookups exist in town and points to Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park and Gabbs. Leave any artifacts where they are.