40° 17' 20"N, 118° 10' 13"W - ROCHESTER quad

An overview:

"The Rochester district was discovered and named in the [eighteen] sixties by prospectors from Rochester, NY. The Relief Mine in the southern part of the range 4 miles south of Nenzel Hill was worked during the sixties and seventies. In 1905 Charles E. Stevens located claims on Nenzel Hill at the head of Rochester Canyon. These claims eventually came into the possession of Joseph F. Nenzel. In 1912 Nenzel shipped a small lot of float ore that gave surprisingly high returns. With the subsequent discovery of several silver-bearing veins development proceeded rapidly, and in 1913 Rochester Canyon had a population of about 2,000. Two companies, the Rochester Mines Co. and the Nevada-Packard Mine Co., built all-slime cyanidation plants in 1915. The mill of the Rochester Mines Co. had an initial capacity of 100 tons per day, which was later increased to 160 tons. The plant of the Nevada Packard Mines Co. had a capacity of 120 tons. In 1917 a mill reported to have cost $300,000 was erected at Packard by the Rochester Combined Mines Co. After the mill had been operated only a few weeks it was shut down, and in 1922 the equipment was moved to Candelaria, Nev. "The principal producer, the Rochester Mines Co., was threatened by apex litigation in 1917, but by compromise and consolidation litigation was avoided, and the Rochester Silver Corporation was formed in 1920. This company ceased operations in 1929, and the equipment of the mill was sold. In March 1936 the principal active property in the district was the Buck and Charley Mine owned by the Rochester Plymouth Mines. Co."
-BRIEF DISTRICT SUMMARY; USBM IC-6902 RECONNAISSANCE OF MINING DISTRICTS IN PERSHING COUNTY, NEVADA 1936

Rochester produced a LOT of excitement.

ROCHESTER CAMP CONTINUES TO HOLD INTEREST
IS SOLE TOPIC CONVERSATION IN COAST CLUBS
MINING MEN OF SAN FRANCISCO ARE WAITING FOR NEWS FROM ROCHESTER
Rochester Stocks Only Need a Flurry To Start Them On Their Way
Rochester is the sole topic of conversation ins San Francisco, according to the statement of J. H. Causten, leader of the so-called "Alaska Lunch" who has spent the last three weeks at Lovelock, and who returned yesterday from San Francisco, stopping off in Reno on his way back to the front. "All the mining men of the west who make their headquarters at the Golden Gate are talking of the new camp," said Mr. Causten.
-Nevada State Journal, January 26, 1913

Rochester was actually three towns all smashed together.

MAIN STREET UP THE CANYON
Town of Rochester May Ultimately Be Two Miles in Length
There is little to be said about Rochester from a development stand-point this week, beyond the extraordinary progress that the two towns are making in the 'canyon, The weather has held back mining operations on Nenzel peak and Lincoln hill, but nothing seems to stop the building of business houses and residences that now seems general from the lower end of lower Rochester all the way up the canyon to Rochester Heights, also called "Squattertown." C. H. McIntosh, president of the Original Rochester Mines company, the Rochester Belmont Mining company and the Crown Point Extension Mining company, all recently formed to take over properties acquired in the Rochester district, arrived In Reno yesterday from the new camp and stated that the boom was increasing daily. "It looks like one town all the way-up to the creek," he said, "and no one can say which will be the focal point In that 'sinuous city.' Besides the old townsites of East and 'West Rochester, there is Rochester Heights at the very head of the canyon, and a new townsite between the two old ones, all within a distance of two miles. "There is absolutely no chance to build up the sides of the canyon wails and the result will be one big town with a main street that would give a lively snake lumbago to follow. "The leasers on our properties have been delayed by the extreme cold up on the mountain, but at that I received some assays last week that were encouraging, to say the least."
-Nevada State Journal, January 26, 1913

It was almost a tourist attraction.

SPECIAL TRAIN TO BRING ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY VISITORS
Moving Pictures of Lovelock and Rochester To Be Taken and Lively Entertainment Planned by Rochester Commercial Club
Coming at least 150 strong by special train consisting of business men, brokers, and mining men of San Francisco will invade Rochester on April 4th, and will be entertained at Lovelock and the camp by commercial clubs and a special committee of citizens. They will be shown the wonderful mineral resources of the newest camp of the west, will be told of the splendid agricultural possibilities and the Humboldt valley in the vicinity of Lovelock and during their sojourn will become part of the scenery for the moving picture that is to be taken and afterward shown through all the principal cities of the United States.
-Nevada State Journal, March 27, 1913

By this time, they were getting all the modern conveniences-- electricity, trains, mills crushing ore, everyone was seemingly pretty happy.

EVOLUTION OF ROCHESTER DISTRICT IS STORY OF SUSTAINED ORE VALUES
'Born a shipper,' 'Second Tonopah of Nevada' the camp of Rochester, in Humboldt county, has during the three years since it was first brought to public attention by Joseph F. Nenzel, steadily forged ahead, overcoming many obstacles in working out its destiny, until today it stands firmly entrenched in second place arming the silver producing camps of the state, and is also making a generous yield of gold which will doubtless increase in quantity and relative proportion as additional depth is attained in the mining development of the district.
Three Mills in Operation
Following the discoveries made by Nenzel and others associated with him, leasers and leasing companies entered tenaciously upon the development of the district, and to them is primarily due the credit of demonstrating the mining merit of the camp. Three mills are now in operation in the district, and another is planned for construction within the present year. The district is also provided with electric power by the Nevada Valleys Power Company, which generates the magic current at the Lahontan darn and conveys it over copper wires to Lovelock, and thence to Rochester, 29 miles from Lovelock.
Nevada Short Line
The transportation problem has been solved, the construction of the Nevada Short Line, a narrow gauge railroad commonly known as the "Coder road, supplanting the heavy freight teams in their tortuous task of hauling supplies-into camp and ore out to the Southern Pacific railroad, across the desert Valley that covers two-thirds of the distance of 12 miles between the station at Oreana and the camp of Rochester. And so Rochester has passed. through the evolution from the silence and solitude of isolated, sage-covered hills. which was finally broken by the ring of the prospectors' pick ; then the spectacular boom of 1913 and its subsequent subsidence, on to the more glorious and substantial era of real mines, of railroads, electric power and light, modern mills, and then the ultimate goal--the magic changing of the ore into gold and silver bullion, to reward all who have staked their faith and money with the camp.
-Reno Evening Gazette, February 26, 1916

Daily service to Lovelock and Packard- about two miles SE of Rochester--was initiated.

ROCHESTER STAGE LINE NOW IN SERVICE
Daily Schedule Between Towns Of Lovelock, Rochester and Packard Is Time-Saver
Special to the Gazette
LOVELOCK Apr. 4.-Regular daily stage service between Lovelock, Rochester and the new Packard townsite has been established. and is now operating on schedule time. Ben Nimms is owner of the line. With the activity in the camp of Rochester so far. the need for faster freight and traffic service has been felt, and the new stage line is the out-growth. After the arrival here of train No.6, a little after noon, the stage leaves for Rochester, and makes Packard. The return trip is made the following morning, the stage reaching here at nine o'clock. Before the advent of the stage, the trip to Rochester was made by train to Nenzel. where a long wait was necessary before connections could be made to Rochester.
-Reno Evening Gazette, April 4, 1917

Time to mill more ore.

GRADING FOR NEW ROCHESTER MILL IS STARTED
Plant on Combined Properties To Have Capacity of 3000 Tons Daily: Other Activities
Special to the Gazette - ROCHESTER, May 25.—Grading for the 300-ton mill of the Rochester Combined Company is proceeding rapidly, and material for the plant is beginning to arrive. The mill will be built in two 150-ton units and is planned to go into service by November 1. Provisions have been made also for a flotation unit, in case an increasing percentage of sulphides appears at further depth. The plant will contain crushers, ball-mills and pebble-mills in place of the ordinary stamps and in many respects will resemble the Packard mill, which has proved one of the most efficient plants in Nevada. A heavy flow of water has been developed in Rochester canyon by the Christmas tunnel, sufficient to supply the mill with four times the amount of water needed. Developments on the Shepherd claim are proceeding , rapidly, with the ore body improving steadily. Considerable native silver and some free gold shows, with large sections of the vein of excellent shipping grade. Extensive work is going forward on the Happy Jack group, and driving of a main lower tunnel has started to develop the ore body exposed in the upper section of the Link No. 1 claim. Sixty men are employed and fully 200 will be on the payroll by the end of summer. The enlarged mill of the Rochester ; Mines Company is operating at capacity and the tramway is delivering 200 tons of ore daily. The Packard Company is arranging to increase the capacity of its mill from 100 to 150 tons daily, and the Nenzel Crown Point is having plans drawn for a 150-ton plant, to use both cyanidation and flotation. It is rumored several other companies are contemplating mill construction before the year closes. More men are employed in the district than at any time since its discovery, and the work now going forward is of the substantial character that brings results.
-Reno Evening Gazette, May 25, 1917

There's always got to be someone who can't get in the spirit of things.

ROCHESTER SALOON ROBBED BY BANDIT
LOVELOCK, Aug. 22.--(Special to the Gazette).
A masked man, aiming a pistol at Tom Pickens in the Bank saloon at Rochester at 11:30 last night, compelled him to hand over $1000 in, currency, which Pickens was just about to place in the safety drawer before closing for the night. Several checks were not taken. Pickens had already counted the money and locked it up in the drawer when Louis Barras, a miner coming off the hill from the eleven o'clock shift, entered to play the punchboard. Pickens re-opened the drawer to give Barras his winning and, soon after the latter left, the hold-up man entered. Barras told the officers that he saw a man jump from behind a barn as he was on his way to the saloon and they think this may have been the robber. The bandit is described as being squarely built and about five feet eight inches in height. He wore light trousers and a brown hat. The constable was out of town and nearly everybody at Rochester was attending a party. The telephone office was closed. It is thought that the thief was somebody in Rochester who was aware of all these facts.
-Reno Evening Gazette, August 22, 1922


Two schools in operation.

SCHOOLS AT ROCHESTER ARE TO OPEN ON TUESDAY
LOVELOCK, Sept. 1.- (Special to the Gazette.)
The Rochester school at both the upper and lower town districts will open September 5. At the upper camp the Knights of Pythias club rooms are being fitted up for school. The school building is in very much need of repair and is so distant for the few children that are in camp to walk that it was deemed advisable to arrange the club rooms as more conveniently located at the present time and also more economical for the school district. Mrs. Rosa Rogers of Elko, an cousin of Mrs. J. W. Douglas of Rochester will teach the upper town school and Mrs. Katherine Watters of Oakland will teach the lower town school. Miss Virginia Ruess of San Francisco will return to teach at Packard this year.
-Reno Evening Gazette, September 1, 1922

It's 1922 and we're still hauling out ore, although things are slowing down a bit.

ROCHESTER MINE PRODUCING HEAVY
LOVELOCK, Oct. 4.—(Special to the Gazette).—The Rochester Silver Corporation Company made a shipment Monday of fifteen bars of bullion aggregating over $30,000 for the second half of September, making a net production of over $55,000 for the mine in the month of September which is the highest production made from the mine in several months. The mine condition is very good, with considerable reserve ore on hand. The mine is producing 160 tons per day and averaging over 5000 tons per month. The Nevada Packard Mines Company made their regular ten-day clean-up of five bars of bullion, aggregating $8000. The Packard mine is a steady producer.
-Reno Evening Gazette, October 4, 1922

Nevada Bell, who purchased the Utah, Nevada, and Idaho Telephone Company in 1920, decided to pull up stakes from Upper Rochester

UPPER ROCHESTER LOSES TELEPHONE
LOVELOCK, July 20.—(Special). --The Bell Telephone Company exchange in the upper camp of Rochester is to be discontinued. It was installed during the Rochester boom In 1913, by the late Sam Thomas, proprietor of the old U. N. I. T. Company. The switchboard and equipment will be moved to the lower camp of Rochester and installed there, giving that camp its exchange first hand. With the closing down of the Rochester Silver Corporation mine and mill through litigation proceedings, the camp has gone down until there are only a few prospectors left. Mining activity In the district all centers around the lower camp, where considerable work is being done by leasers and small mill operation. Mrs. Vernon Vastle will have charge of the new office as soon as the move is completed which will require two or three weeks.
-Reno Evening Gazette, July 20, 1926

Finally, the mine closed down.

ROCHESTER MINE CLOSES DOWN
LOVELOCK, Feb. 8. - (Special). — The Rochester Silver Corporation, operating mine and mill at the mining camp of Rochester, has suspended work, beginning today, for an indefinite period, according to E. R. Bennett. company superintendent who was in Lovelock yesterday. The miners coming off the hill today at four o'clock will have worked the last shift before the close-down. It will require about ten days to clean up the mill and refinery, Mr. Bennett said. E. R. Bennett and W. G. Emminger have been operating the property for several years. excepting during a period when litigation prevented work, under a lease. but lately results attained are reported to have been unsatisfactory. What the future plans for the company are could not be ascertained here, as Mr. Bennett declined to comment. The Rochester mine was discovered in 1912 and for most of the time since has been a consistent producer of a good grade of milling ore, the principal metal being silver.
-Reno Evening Gazette, February 8, 1929

Thatdidn't mean they stopped lookng, though.

NEW BODY OF ORE FOUND AT LOWER ROCHESTER
The source of the rich float that Charles Mayer found twenty years ago on the Buck & Charley ground at Lower Rochester, and for which he has searched many times since has been unearthed, he stated yesterday. It is situated 150 feet south of the glory-hole, which in turn is six hundred feet south of the original tunnel portal, and a segment of it was cut just below the croppings. which are covered with eroded material, in a raise that the Rochester Plymouth Company was putting up from the lower levels for air. Mayer said that it was thirty feet wide and assays indicated that it would run about thirty dollars a ton. It is supposed to be a cross vein running east and west and dipping south, the dip accounting for the fact that It had not been found before below.
Most of the ore at the present time is coming from the one, two, and three hundred-foot levels and there are a thousand tons of sulphide ore between the latter two broken and awaiting treatment that will about twelve dollars a ton. The mill has been operating with three shifts until recently and from forty to fifty tons of concentrates have been shipped monthly that average from $400 to $500 each, but some time has been lost this month because of the necessity of relining the ball mill.
-Reno Evening Gazette, January 29, 1936

But things eventually ground to a halt.

Rochester Camp Postoffice Quits
Had Functioned For Thirty Years
Rochester's United States post office wound up over thirty years of existence last week when Mrs. Luna Stokely turned the key in the door at Upper Rochester and moved to Lovelock. Most of those who received their mail there and who are still in the vicinity will use Oreana service in the future. With war mines and projects attracting people away from the old silver camp, there was hardly anyone left to serve. The camp had become the worst ghost camp in its history. Only Johnny Kippen and a few others remained aside from the Buck and Charley mine crew. The first post office was opened some time before 1912 by Charlie Bell and was located in what has been known as "Lower Rochester." Charles and Frank Baker founded a store there in 1912 and went into the postal business, but when building increased near the big mine in the upper part of the canyon they moved store and post office there. When excitement increased at the old location, co-incident to the building of the big Rochester Silver corporation mill, a post office was founded at the upper town.
-Reno Evening Gazette, January 23, 1943

By the 1950's most folks had left the area save for a few caretakers and hangers-on. Then...

MINING FIRM TO CREATE 150 JOBS IN LOVELOCK
The Lovelock area will get between 100 and 150 new jobs later this year when an Idaho-based company begins leaching silver and gold on part of a 1,000 acre site 25 miles northeast of town. Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. of Wallace, Idaho, plans to start operations on its leased Rochester property about 115 miles northeast of Reno in the fourth quarter of this year. The open pit mine is expected to produce 3.7 million ounces of silver annually, making it one of the largest mines of its kind in Nevada. An annual gold yield of 43,000 ounces is expected, according to the company.
-Reno Gazette-Journal, February 17, 1986

Rochester consists of three sites, actually- there is an "Lower Rochester, and Upper Rochester, and a Rochester Heights. You come first to Lower Rochester, and that's where most of the ruins are- a Mill, the foundation of another mill, and several houses and buildings still stand in various stages of decay. Debris fields lay everywhere, glass, pottery, galvanized steel, wood, metal screen, machinery and parts, cans- in addition to the usual flostsam and jetsam of mining activity. Overall, this is one of the finest sites within comfortable driving distance of Fallon.

The Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation Coeur Rochester open pit silver mine is, as far as I know, a primary silver producer in the State of Nevada, which still produces more silver than any other state. It's a big honking operating mine at the end of Rochester Canyon and their tailings dump dominate the view to the east. Unfortunately, there are large signs warning of tresspass before you get to upper Rochester. This is probably because the Coeur Rochester mine is an operating mine, and some of the large pickup-sized boulders they dig up and dump off the edge have a tendency to roll down and bump into things.

Did I mention it's an operating mine? Oh, I did? Good.

Unfortunately, this is still a historically significant site, as there were quite a few ruins (albeit flat ones) in Upper Rochester which are beyond the rather large and hard-to-ignore warning signs.

On the day we went, it was rather windy and very overcast and misty, which makes for lousy digital photographs. We hope to return on a bright sunny day.


UPDATE January 2012. After a report that the mine company had "bulldozed" the buildings, we made another trip on a bright, crisp December day. Everything is pretty much as we left it, albeit with some missing metal no doubt recycled by thieving assh*les. The mine company has thoughtfully placed a large sign showing you how to get to the historic site instead of driving up to their mine and bothering them. They have also blocked the road to Upper Rochester, so you could take your chances that one of those huge boulders won't roll down on your head if it was that important to you , but there isn't really anything up there any more.