Dun Glen

Pershing County

AKA: Chafey

Silver was discovered in the Sierra district in 1862. This was prior to statehood. By 1863, the town of Dun Glen was formed. The population rose to 250 or 300 residents. Dun Glen was seen as one of the more rambunctious towns in the district. The normal businesses soon formed. To include: a church, stores, saloons, hotels, school, livery stable, post office and meeting hall. A mill was built near the site of the Auld Lang Syne mine in late 1863. When Nevada attempted statehood in 1864, Dun Glen strongly opposed it. They also voted overwhelmingly to turn down Nevada's first proposed constitution. In both 1863 and 1865, soldiers were stationed here based on potential hostilities with natives in the area. The Essex Mill was built in 1866 or 1867, depending on which historian you reference. You can still see those ruins today. Production of profitable ore continued through the 1870's but was on the decline by 1880. The population had dwindled down to about 50 residents. Cattle ranching became a staple in the region around that time. Ranching is still prominent in this area to this day. Chinese placer miners worked the region from this point, through the beginning of the 20th century. A major resurgence occurred in 1908 after discoveries were made in the Black Hole Mine. A new camp named Chafey was formed at the old Dun Glen site. It was named after E.S. Chafey. Although it was now called Chafey, it was stated that some of the old timers never stopped calling it Dun Glen. Soon, the camp had turned into a town with over 1,000 residents and all the regular businesses. A stage ran multiple times a day to nearby Mill City and Winnemucca. A 25-room hotel, electric plant, opera house, police, and sanitary measures were all planned. Chafey was considered to be a town that lived more extravagantly than it should have. By 1913, production was on the decline. I'm not sure of any further revivals, or when the last resident actually left.

If you want to read a very cool and intricate write-up about the history of Dun Glen, take a look at our friend Tami's page. It's well worth it!!! https://nvtami.com/index.php/ghost-towns-nevada-california/

Post Office: July 18, 1865 to September 23, 1887; March 13, 1888 to April 7, 1894 (At Dun Glen); August 4, 1908 to March 4, 1911 (At Chafey); March 4, 1911 to April 15, 1913 (At Dun Glen again)

Last Trip/ Road Conditions: May 2019. This was a really good dirt road. Although, some of the spur roads were less than optimal. We were there on May 19th and got snowed on. There are cows everywhere out here too. We stopped to look at a couple antelope and had something weird happen. They looked at us and then started running as fast as they could, directly towards my truck. Why can't that ever happen when I have a tag. Anyway, I've never seen anything like that happen before.