The Influence of Mining on the Areas near Virginia City

Opening of the mines in Virginia City changed Nevada, the United States, and even influenced the world. The prospect of great riches to be merely picked up from the ground brought people and related industries to the relatively uninhabited Nevada Territory. This picture looking southeast from the top or the highest mountain above Virginia City, Mount Davidson, gives an idea of the area around Virginia City today. The picture shows the southern tip of Virginia City and the green of the Carson River in the background.

The extent of mining throughout the time from the discovery of the Comstock Lode to the present can be seen in the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology map of mining districts in Nevada ftp://comstock.nbmg.unr.edu/pub/dox/r47/plate.pdf . The geology underlying the state of Nevada is shown in the Generalized Geology Map of Nevada also published by the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology: ftp://comstock.nbmg.unr.edu/pub/dox/e30.pdf.