This is the story about the town of Bullionville Nevada. Unlike most old mining towns in Nevada back in the day, Bullionville was started as a milling town all due to a silver strike in nearby Pioche. The other thing to keep in mind is, this town only lasted about a decade.
It was in 1870, that John Ely & William Raymond relocated their five-stamp here from Hiko. They had set up the mill years earlier over in Hiko, but due to high frieght costs and labour issues, they moved the mill to where the town of Bullionville would eventually be built. The reason for moving the mill here was because of the abundant supply of water and the down in Pioche, there was no water.
At first silver ore was moved with mules and wagons but in 1872, construction started on a narrow gauge railroad that would connect the two towns. This railroad was twenty one miles long and could haul all the ore to these mills. Of course it wouldn't be long before other mills moved into Bullionville and by 1875 there were five mills totaling 110 stamps. Because of all this extra ore and work, the town grew to around 500 residents. The town had a couple of stores, hotels, saloons, a blacksmith and a post office.
Now while all of this was going on, a water line was being built from also from Bullionville to Pioche and by 1875 the water was flowing to Pioche and there was enough water so milling could be done there instead of having to transport ore by rail. Some of the mills were moved to Pioche but by 1880 most of the mills had been dismantled and moved away. By the end of the 1880's however, with the mills gone, the railroad was dismantled, and the town was pretty much abandoned. Then in the late 1880's, a smelting and concentrating plant was built here to work tailings from the old mines and at this time the population was 100 residents. Unfortunatly by November 1886 the post office closed and that was the end of the milling town of Bullionville Nevada.
