Mina, Nevada the small town under Pilot mountain range was founded as a railroad town and the legend says it was named after Ferminia Sarras, a large landowner and famed prospector known as the ‘Copper Queen. ‘ One of the so called wildest and most colorful women of the west.
The little town of Mina, 35 miles southeast of Hawthorne on US 95 is about one third way journey from Reno to Las Vegas. It’s almost abandoned at this time, however people who stayed live rich, beautiful and productive lifestyles there! I know! I talked to few of them. They love this town! Mina however has a rich mining and railroad history.
According to Wikipedia:
The Carson and Colorado Railway, a division of Southern Pacific Railroad, had a station in Mina Nevada. And it was a busy station than! The railroad is gone, but at one time a local shuttle called the “Slim Princess” allowed Native Americans to ride free of charge atop the train cars. And passengers and crew would hunt wild game from open windows. The train moved slowly enough that hunters were able to retrieve their game and reboots.
The Carson & Colorado Railroad ( later called Nevada & California Railway), owned by Southern Pacific Railroad, established Mina Nevada town in 1905 with a ten-stall engine house ( I believe it’s the one we call now Mina Nevada Roundhouse), depot and other facilities.
What is amazing and incredibly humbling and bragging worthy for myself is that, this historic Mina Nevada Southern Pacific Railroad Roundhouse used to stand where my property is. Yes I own that former Southern Pacific Railroad piece of land! And I love, love, love it! And I love, love, love the fact, that it has this big character in its past!
Railroad depot eventually burned down. I would like to hear the details about it and I will try to interview few older locals in the future.
By 1907 Mina NV had nearly 400 residents and a weekly paper – The West Nevada Miner. Around 1910 the two story, sixty room Hotel Mina opened.
For about 20 years Mina thrived as a shipping point for area mines and as a link between the Southern Pacific and the Tonopah & Goldfield Railroads. However by the early 1930s most of the mines had closed and Mina began to lose population. In the 1980s the rail line was abandoned and the tracks removed. Today Mina town is a quite community with or probably without last time I’ve seen functioning gas station, convenience store, motel. There is definitely one of the best burger stand and great RV park in Mina Nevada town.
Little more about Mina Nevada’s famous Ferminia Sarras.
Ferminia Sarras “Mina” was one of the early Nevada’s explorer and wild spirit. As a miner and little trouble maker, her behavior was quite unconventional for a woman in the nineteenth century. Mina was born in Nicaragua in 1840 and arrived in Nevada in the 1870s. After many years doing ad manual jobs, such as cleaning laundry, she began to mine in a central Nevada camp called Belleville. She made small fortune in Belleville, but she quickly lost it speculating in mining stocks and other ventures.
Fermina “Mina” was a huge spender and she enjoyed life to the fullest always spending all her money. And than coming back to mining when she needed to earn more.
In 1899 Mina, who had by now become an adept prospector, began mining in the mountains of Soda Spring Valley, south of Hawthorne. In the next years mining here she sold few dozens copper claims for great profit.
Sarras wasn’t frugal like many of her mining male colleges. Mina celebrated by spending all her money. She went to San Francisco and Los Angeles where she stayed in the most expensive hotels, purchased the most expensive and elegant gowns and hired herself an escort. She wend wild and soon her money was gone. Than she returned to Nevada to prospect some more so she could do it all over again.
Her love life was equally scandalous. She’s believed to have had from 3 to 6 husbands and countless lovers, most much younger than she. Despite or perhaps because of – her colorful nature, in 1905 the Carson & Colorado Railroad established a small depot near her former claims and named it Mina in her honor. By the time Mina Sarras died in 1915, she had made and lost several fortunes and broken at least a few hearts. And of course let’s not forget, this beautiful town in south west Nevada – Mina was named after her!