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History · Ruth

Ruth’s post office opened in 1904, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 17 old photos and papers and maps from 1958 on.

1904first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
17old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ruth’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ruth began

When was Ruth founded?

1904

The Ruth post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 371122 years
Founding year: the first Ruth post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ruth’s past

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

A town in old photos17 old photos, postcards and papers, 1910–1940.Old housesHalf of Ruth’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · By decade

Ruth, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1940s17 items
Ruth, Nevada1910Ruth, NevadaRuth, Nevada1912Ruth, NevadaRuth, Nevada panorama1912Ruth, Nevada panoramaRuth, Nevada1912Ruth, NevadaCopper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Copper pit. Ruth, NevadaCopper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Copper pit. Ruth, NevadaCopper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Copper pit. Ruth, NevadaCopper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Copper pit. Ruth, NevadaCopper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Copper pit. Ruth, NevadaCopper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Copper pit. Ruth, NevadaCopper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Copper pit. Ruth, NevadaTourists viewing copper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Tourists viewing copper pit. Ruth, NevadaUntitled photo, possibly related to: Copper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Copper pit. Ruth…Workers' homes on edge of copper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Workers' homes on edge of copper pit. Ruth, NevadaWorkers sitting at edge of copper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Workers sitting at edge of copper pit. Ruth, NevadaWorkers sitting at edge of copper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Workers sitting at edge of copper pit. Ruth, NevadaUntitled photo, possibly related to: Copper pit. Ruth, Nevada1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Copper pit. Ruth…
1950s–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
The story

How Ruth came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ruth.

Read it all →

Ruth began as a settlement for workers of the White Pine Copper Company in 1903. It derived its name from the Ruth mining claim which was named for Ruth McDonald, daughter of the original owner of the mining claim.

With the opening Nevada Northern Railway in the year 1906 copper production began to boom.

In 1905, Daniel C. Jackling "evaluated a low-grade copper prospect", which he turned into "an impressive open-pit and satellite cave (the Veteran Mine)." Jackling went on to become president of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ruth, 1904 to 1958

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Ruth post office opens
  3. 1910In the archiveRuth, Nevada
  4. 1923Born hereHelen Delich Bentley is born here
  5. 1940In the archiveCopper pit. Ruth, Nevada
  6. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Ruth on the map, 1958 to 1979

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

Ruth on the 1958 USGS mapRuth on the 1979 USGS map1958Ruth 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 Ruth.

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.

Ruth, Nevada
Retake this viewRuth, Nevada, 1910

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Ruth’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewRuth, Nevada: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Ruth’s history

What year was Ruth founded?

The Ruth post office opened in 1904, 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 (2), the Library of Congress (15), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.