Delamar

Lincoln County

AKA:  Ferguson/ Helene was the tent camp located just down the road from where Delamar is located.

Gold was first discovered in approximately 1890. The original camp was named Ferguson, which also included a post office and a newspaper called the "Ferguson Lode". Captain John De Lamar of Montana bought the best claims in the area in 1893. Delamar was outpacing the other mining towns in Nevada at the time, and the population boomed. Somewhere between 1,500 and 3,000 residents lived here, depending on the resource you read. Delamar was home to all of the big town businesses of the day. To include saloons, stores, churches, a theatre and/ or opera house, a hospital, a school, a newspaper called the "Delamar Lode", and the professional class. While Delamar was booming, neighboring Pioche was in decline. St. John's Masonic Lodge in Pioche was moved to Delamar in 1896. When Delamar eventually went into permanent decline, the Masonic Lodge was moved back to Pioche in 1907. Delamar was also known as the "Widowmaker". The Delamar ore released silica dust when crushed. Miners breathing this in, died of Silicosis at high rates. Delamar was partially destroyed by fire in 1900 and was never totally rebuilt. Delamar was in decline by 1902 and many of its residents headed for the Tonopah boom. The town was done by 1909. There was a revival from 1929 to 1934. The post office closed for good in 1941 and Delamar has been abandoned ever since. The Helene cemetery sits down the mountain from Delamar. 

Post Office:  June 30, 1892 to December 22, 1894 (at Ferguson/ Helene); August 6, 1894 to June 15, 1914;  March 1st, 1933 to February 28, 1941 (at Delamar). 

Fraternal Societies:  Freemasons (St. John's Masonic Lodge #18),  Odd Fellows  (I.O.O.F.)

Last Trip/ Road Conditions:  I've made a bunch of trips to Delamar. The last one was in January of 2014. The road is basically your typical Nevada dirt road that doesn't require four-wheel drive. I wanted to tell you that there is one section that can get pretty rough. I even blew an off-road tire in this section once. But the last time we went, we got all the way to the town and met an old metal head in an old Camaro or Z-28 or something. If that guy got that car there, than the road must not be that bad. See the picture of that car in the photo section. 

Sources: History of Masonry in Nevada (By: C.W. Torrence); Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps (By: Stanley W. Paher); Nevada Post Offices- An Illustrated History (By: James Gamett & Stanley W. Paher); Nevada Place Names- A Geographical Dictionary (By: Helen S. Carlson); History of Nevada (By: Sam P. Davis); Travel Nevada- Delamar Ghost Town; Legends of America- Delamar, Nevada- The Widowmaker; Nevada State Historical Marker #90- Delamar, The Widow Maker, 1893-1909.