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2013-06-16 15 39 22 View south across Mountain City in Nevada, with Nevada State Route 225 visible passing through town and the Owyhee River visible toward the rightPhoto: Famartin · CC BY-SA 3.0
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History · Mountain City

Mountain City’s post office opened in 1870

Most of Mountain City was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1936 on.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mountain City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mountain City began

When was Mountain City founded?

1870

The Mountain City post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 14156 years
Founding year: the first Mountain City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mountain City’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 Mountain City’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Mountain City came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mountain City.

Read it all →

In 1870, Mountain City was founded after a silver mine was located in the area: over a thousand people lived in Mountain City until the silver ran out, causing an exodus from the town.

In 1879, copper was found at one of the mines north-east of Mountain City: people came rolling back in, causing a boom town for the second time, until the copper was exhausted.

A post office was established at Mountain City in 1870. The community was descriptively named on account of the natural surroundings of its elevated town site. Due to its small size, Mountain City is classified by some writers as a ghost town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mountain City, 1850 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Elko County - ED 4-3A, ED 4-3B
  3. 1870Post officeThe Mountain City post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Mountain City, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Elko County - ED 4-3A, ED 4-3B18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevad…
Today5 recent
2014, Bridge on the River Owyhee20142014, Bridge on the River Owyhee2013-06-16 15 39 56 View south across the Owyhee River as it flows past Mountain City in Nevada and Nevada State Route …20132013-06-16 15 39 56 View south across the Owyhee Rive…2013-06-16 15 39 22 View south across Mountain City in Nevada, with Nevada State Route 225 visible passing through town…20132013-06-16 15 39 22 View south across Mountain City i…2013-06-16 14 23 49 View southeast up the Owyhee River just northwest of20132013-06-16 14 23 49 View southeast up the Owyhee Rive…Rocks at Mountain City Nevada - panoramio - Chanilim7142009Rocks at Mountain City Nevada - panoramio - Chanilim7…
On the map

Mountain City on the map, 1936 to 1986

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

Mountain City on the 1936 USGS mapMountain City on the 1940 USGS mapMountain City on the 1986 USGS map1936Mountain City sheet · 1:62,500

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

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Elko County - ED 4-3A, ED 4-3B
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Elko County - ED 4-3A, ED 4-3B, 1850

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Mountain City’s history

What year was Mountain City founded?

The Mountain City post office opened in 1870, 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.