The Ruins of the Thompson Smelter

Near Wabuska, Nevada
March 28, 2009

On a leisurely drive around the Nevada countryside southeast of Carson City, I came upon the ruins of the Thompson Smelter, which I saw to the west as I drove north on US 95 ALT. The mill and smelter ruins are at the northern end of the Mason Valley, and the mill and smelter processed copper from the many mines in the Mason Valley and Smith Valley. The copper ore was delivered here by the Nevada Copper Belt Railroad, which ran the length of the Mason Valley and into Smith Valley via Wilson Canyon. The heyday of this area was short-lived with the smelter and town built around 1910 and, except for the ruins, not lasting for more than a decade or two. The ruins consist mostly of foundations of the mill buildings, two smelters, and a number of a buildings from the nearby town that served the mill and smelter.