Pioche NV winter 2039a

Pioche (pronounced Pi-oach (as in 'coach')) is an older mining town that was very active from the mid-1800's until the mid-1900's. The town is now largely abandoned with very many empty homes and businesses. However, there is still a sizeable number of long-term residents and some new homes/residents. I talked with local townspeople to try to get a sense of why there were new homes being built, since there is no, 0, none, zilch, work other than a very, very, very, minor amount of tourist and/or agricultural work. The sense of the locals was that some of the newer homes were vacation homes and the rest were retirees who were moving there from Utah and Las Vegas. It is difficult to believe that these retirees or vacationers would change the town much, since there are almost no basic services available -- there is only a weekly visiting nurse, you have to go at least back to Caliente (30 miles) for basic shopping/health services or to St. George, Utah (80 miles) for any real shopping/health services.

There is, however, one restaurant (the Silver Cafe, nearby picture) where the people who run it are friendly, the locals who eat there say 'hi', and the food is good. And, across from the restaurant is the Overland Hotel (this picture), with an old-fashioned bar and again friendly staff/locals. When I first visited Pioche a few years back, there were more businesses and restaurants open. Though quite scenic and historically interesting, it doesn't attract many tourists -- which is fine. I like the town as it is -- friendly, interesting history, and no tourist-traps.

This and the following pages are pictures of Pioche itself, and then of mining areas around it. Since it was a mining town, you can see mining structures in the background in many of the pictures from downtown.


(Best viewed as part of Lincoln county set)