Directions: Take Highway 50 32 miles east to just before Rawhide turnoff; head north 8 miles until road comes to a "T"; head east (right) for about .6 mile; head generally north about 4 miles. Also reachable from Stillwater Rd via Mountain Well. (about 45 miles from Fallon one way)

From Fallon: 45 miles

What Was

First county seat of Churchill County that's actually still in Churchill County. At the junction of the road going up La Plata Canyon, at the town site, are the remains of a stone building. Some think it was a mill, others the courthouse. Interviews with local ranchers suggest there never was a mill at the La Plata site, and those who have studied courthouse transcripts say there wasn't a courthouse either. I'm thinking it was a Starbucks.

"The La Plata district, discovered in 1862, attained considerable prominence as a boom camp during the middle sixties, but there is little evidence to show that any appreciable amount of ore was produced. The town of La Plata, established about 1863, was the county seat of Churchill County from 1864 to 1868. In 1863 and several years afterward many claims were located, many of which were sold to eastern capitalists, who did considerable prospecting, but the general results were discouraging. The county seat was removed to Stillwater in 1868, and the following year most of the miners deserted the district for the White Pine boom in the eastern part of the State. In 1864 the Silver Wave Wining Co. erected a 10-stamp mill at La Plata at a cost of $150,000, but little evidence, such as tailings or extensive mine workings exists to indicate a large production. This mill was removed subsequently to the Ellsworth district in Nye County. Another mill was built in Eleven-Mile Canyon, several miles north of La Plata Canyon, about 1864, which likewise was unsuccessful, presumably for lack of ore." (Vanderburg, Reconnaissance of Mining Districts in Churchill County, Nevada)

"A plat of the townsite had been made. The City of La Plata seems to have been carefully planned by knowledgeable men the same day the district's first claim was filed and a townsite plat made. The town was in a horseshoe shape. Two canyons formed a "V" and at its base was a knoll, on which later sat the so-called "courthouse ruins." La Plata's main section extended up Silver Wave [running NW] and La Plata Canyons [running NE]. It was neatly divided into blocks and lots.

"There was, for a time, a fairly brisk traffic in lots. Eighty in all were platted, about thirty sold. Some were bought and sold on speculation since prices were reasonable, ranging around fifty dollars." (Childers, Magee Station and the Churchill Chronicles)

"It's [La Plata] courthouse was a dwelling acquired on October 15, 1864 for $700 from Anton Kaufman. By 1867 La Plata's mining boom declined and support for moving the county seat gained momentum. In a special election held on October 22, 1867, the electorate cast thirty-three votes for re-locating the county government to Stillwater, only seventeen voted for a move to Big Adobe, a small way station west

"When the Churchill Co. Seat moved to Stillwater in December 1868, officials dismantled the house-turned-courthouse in La Plata and reassembled it in the new location. Eventually, finding the one room wooden structure unsuitable, they finished construction on a more permanent two story courthouse in 1870." (James, Temples of Justice- County Court Houses of Nevada).

Post Office: Apr 1865 - Nov 1867
Newspaper: None

What is

The roads going up to La Plata are in such good shape we expected to see the blade smoothing them out around every bend. There are rock ruins at the intersection of the two roads, and looks like it as an imposing building in its day. Some say it was a mill- others maintain it was the courthouse. The road to the right passes the remains of what appears to be a ranch, which may be more recent. The concrete watering trough remains as does a collapsed building. Further up, there is much mine activity including an exceedingly dangerous mine on the side of the road which drops down at about a 45 degree angle. The west fork of the road, which continues to Mountain Well, goes past more rock ruins.