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History · Mina

Mina’s post office opened in 1905

Most of Mina was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1967 on.

1905first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mina’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mina began

When was Mina founded?

1905

The Mina post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 127121 years
Founding year: the first Mina post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mina’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mina’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mina’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSP 4371 at Mina Aug 84x4RP: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Mina came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mina.

Read it all →

Mina was founded as a railroad town in 1905 and was named for Ferminia Sarras, a large landowner and famed prospector known as the "Copper Queen". The Carson and Colorado Railway, a division of Southern Pacific Railroad, had a station in the town. The railroad is long gone – the last section between Thorne and Mina shut down in 1985 – but at one time a local shuttle called the "Slim Princess" allowed Native Americans to ride free of charge atop the railcars, and passengers and crew would shoot wild game from open windows. The train moved slowly enough that hunters were able to retrieve their game and reboard.

ChaptersName

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mina, 1905 to 1984

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1905Post officeThe Mina post office opens
  3. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1984In the archiveSP 4371 at Mina Aug 84x4RP
By decade

Mina, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
SP 4371 at Mina Aug 84x4RP1984SP 4371 at Mina Aug 84x4RP
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
2015-04-29 17 11 13 View south along U.S. Route 95 in20152015-04-29 17 11 13 View south along U.S. Route 95 inMina, Nevada2011Mina, NevadaWestern Nevada - Flickr - brewbooks (8)2009Western Nevada - Flickr - brewbooks (8)Western Nevada - Flickr - brewbooks (7)2009Western Nevada - Flickr - brewbooks (7)Sun and sand2008Sun and sand
On the map

Mina on the map, 1967 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mina. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Mina on the 1967 USGS mapMina on the 1985 USGS map1967Mina sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mina.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

SP 4371 at Mina Aug 84x4RP
Retake this viewSP 4371 at Mina Aug 84x4RP, 1984

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mina’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Mina

Nobody well known was born in Mina itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Grant HarveyAmerican actor · b. 1984
Jim NashAmerican baseball player · b. 1945
S
Shawn BoskieAmerican baseball player · b. 1967

Questions about Mina’s history

What year was Mina founded?

The Mina post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.