San Antonio

Nye County

AKA: San Antone; San Antonia.

Not to be confused with the San Antonio Mine a few miles to the south, or the neighboring San Antonio Ranch. San Antonio was an early Nye County town. It is believed that the springs at this site were used by John Fremont and his group in the mid 1840's. Gold was discovered in the San Antonio Mountains south of here in 1863. By 1864, there were as many as 200 miners working the area at the Liberty and Potomac south of here. A two-story hotel/ stage station was built at San Antonio in 1865. John Courter owned both the Potomac Mine and the hotel. San Antonio was a main stopping point for people traveling to and from many different camps and towns in the area. One route included the Westgate-Ione-Belmont stage line. Silver Peak, Gold Mountain, Death Valley and Sodaville were other destinations that San Antonio served as stopping point for. Within a short time, San Antonio had many businesses and a population of approximately 100 residents. In 1879, the San Antonio Mining Company consolidated many of the area mines. Courter was named superintendent. That same year, Courter expanded the size of his hotel. Although the mines in the area worked sporadically throughout the latter half of the 1800's, San Antonio remained a stopping point for those headed to other strikes. It did slow down substantially in the 1880's for a period of time. 1896 saw new life for San Antonio as new strikes were being made to the south in Esmeralda and more southern parts of Nye. It was still an active stopping point for those travelling to the booms at Tonopah and Goldfield in the early 1900's. The mines in the San Antonio Mountains had some ups and downs in the first part of the 20th century. By 1910, the town of San Antonion was deserted. The land where the town of San Antonio had been located, was incorporated into the San Antonio Ranch. The ranch has also been long abandoned. See the page for the San Antonio Ranch as well.

Post Office: May 14, 1873 to May 23, 1889 (as San Antonia); April 8, 1896 to July 14, 1906.

Last Trip/ Road Conditions: I used to travel around the southern edge of the Toiyable Mountains from Round Mountain to Gabbs on a regular basis. I've been here many times. The photos are from 2018. I've also read about an early mill and/or smelter that operated here. In 2018, I went walking in the desert, trying to look for any signs that San Antonio ever existed. I wandered aimlessly for a good hour or two. I finally stumbled onto a small location in the brush that contained metal, old bricks and wood scraps. I later found Lat/Long's for a smelter and a quartz mill that supposedly used to exist here. I was able to compare those Lat/Longs with an overview photo that I took which was looking back towards the San Antonio Ranch. It appears that I was right there in the general vicinity. I still don't know what the remnants that I found belonged to. The hotel? A smelter? A mill? I may never know. See the photos posted below.