Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Consolidated Virginia Mining Company Records: Finding Aid
mssConsolidated Virginia Mining Company
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Consolidated Virginia Mining Company
Records
Dates (inclusive): 1876-1955
Collection Number: mssConsolidated Virginia Mining Company
Creator:
Consolidated Virginia Mining
Company.
Extent:
Approximately 1,300 pieces
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence, business papers, ledger books, maps and reports
of the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company of Virginia City, Nevada, dating from 1876-1955. The materials document mines
and mineral resources in Nevada;
the Comstock Lode and other mines, and the mining industry and finance.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Consolidated Virginia Mining Company Records, The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
Purchased from Neil Weinstein, May 9, 1975.
The Consolidated Virginia Mining Company on the Comstock Lode at Virginia City, Nevada, was
organized in 1867, but the sinking of a shaft was delayed for two years. The lode was
difficult to find, work stopped, and the stock fell considerably in 1870. In 1871, James
Flood began to buy stock in Consolidated Virginia and, joined by John Mackay, James Fair,
and William O'Brien, formed the Bonanza Firm. They bought the land owned by the Consolidated
Virginia Mining Co. and hoped to find rich ore in that section between the Gould & Curry
and the Ophir mines. In 1873, they struck the Big Bonanza, which produced over $100 million
of ore from 1873-1882. The firm bought control of the adjoining Ophir and Mexican mines in
1877. Although the firm dominated the Comstock from 1876-95, when Mackay sold the interests
to San Francisco stockbrokers, the last dividend was paid in 1880. The Con-Virginia was the
most successful mine on the Comstock and one of the few to pay more in dividends than it
levied in assessments. In the 1930s, the company was reactivated to mine and mill the lower
grade ore still remaining. The reactivated firm in 1933 collected old maps and also made
detailed new maps of the older workings, level by level.
Some high-grade veins were found and production continued until 1942 when gold mining
activity was curtailed because of war-time restrictions. After this time, the mine operated
only sporadically and correspondence ceases in 1955.
This collection contains correspondence, business papers, 16 ledger books, maps and reports
of the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company of Virginia City, Nevada, dating from 1876-1955. The 112 rolled maps in collection,
dating from 1876 to 1947
document the early period, the general mining district, and other mines and mining claims on the Comstock Lode such as
the Ophir mines and the Mexican Gold and Silver Mining Company. One map is signed by Charles Frederick Hoffmann.
The collection includes an account book and many letters of Zeb Kendall, president of the firm.
Some notable items include:
- Hoffmann Charles Frederick. General Map of Comstock Mines [c. 1879]. Map 1
- Osborne, W. L. Consolidated Virginia and Ophir Mines: Assay Plans (10 maps showing details of original level workings). 1933-1934. Map Roll 16
- Consolidated Virginia Mining Co. Minutes of the Board of Directors. 1932-1935. Box 1
- Con-Virginia Diamond Drill Logs and correspondence. 1950. Box 4
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
California Mining Company (Virginia City, Nev.).
Consolidated Virginia Mining Company -- Archives.
Mexican Gold and Silver Mining Company.
Ophir Hill Consolidated Mining Company.
Gold mines and mining -- Nevada.
Mines and mineral resources -- Nevada.
Mining corporations -- Nevada.
Silver mines and mining -- Nevada.
Comstock Lode (Nev.) -- History -- Sources.
Virginia City (Nev.) -- History -- Sources.
Business records -- Nevada.
Maps -- Nevada.