Historic Properties In Goldfield

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Do you, your friends or relatives have any photos of Goldfield’s old buildings that you would be willing to share? We will give you credit for the photos and feature them and whatever stories you want to share in this section of our site.

Please contact Edie at: goldfieldhistorical@gmail.com

Major W.A. Stanton House

Historical Marker #30

Major W.A.Stanton House – Historical Marker #30

This house was built in 1906 and is located on the SW Corner of Myers Avenue and Bellevue Avenue here in Goldfield. Major Stanton was a respected mining engineer during Goldfield’s boom years. He was one of the chief mining engineers for John w. Mackay in the later years of the Comstock boom and served as a consultant and engineer for many of the prominent mining companies in Goldfield.

While Stanton was not an officer in any of the more prosperous mining companies in Goldfield, he did invest in Major W.A.Stanton House - Historical Marker #30 several prospects in in the Goldfield, Goldreed and Bullfrog Districts. The Miners’ Strike of 1906-1908 as well as the National Panic of 1907 wiped out his investments. This financial disaster led to his suicide in Los Angeles in April of 1909.

The house features a hipped roof – very popular at the time, boxed eaves and a grand front porch enhanced with elegant pillars. The house was boarded up for many years until purchased by Bill and Sandy Beltz of Longview, Washington and Goldfield, Nevada. Their intention is to restore the old house to its former self… and what a job it is turning out to be! Bill has spent days crawling under the house to place house jacks to re-level the residence. That was followed by more days rebuilding window frames and walls… not a job for the faint hearted.

Inside the House

Sandy’s first priority was removing the boarding over the windows. She was thrilled to discover the windowswere unbroken and the trim around them and the doors were in excellent condition. However, the old wallpaper glued to muslin on the ceiling in the front room did not fare so well and hung down in shreds. Then came the dirty, tedious stuff – sorting through boxes of old storage, (some treasures… some not), tossing trash and sweeping out decades of dust and dirt; the discovery of a cellar. Who knew?

The grounds were overgrown, and unkempt… yet another job. Interesting bits of wallpaper were found lurking in closets and out of the way places in the house – small, intriguing hints about the past “life” of the house. According to the 1907-08 Goldfield City Directory Major Stanton is listed at this address along with a woman named Edith. While we can’t know for certain, we might assume that Edith was the missus and may well have selected these patterns.

Progress thru summer 2017

As you can see by the photos below, Bill and Sandy have the project well in hand. A new roof is in the works and they plan to restore the ceiling as done originally – paper over heavy muslin or canvas. That is dedication! As things progress, more information will be added to this page. The Goldfield Historical Society is proud to showcase their efforts to preserve this old home. Check back often.

Progress thru summer 2018

There has been a lot going on with this house since our last update. Bill spent a busy summer leveling the house and also redesigning the cellar which required a sturdy new trap door and stairs as well as a LOT of dirt work.

The new roof is complete.

Sandy has cleaned, caulked and painted everything in sight. As you can see, the end result is downright inspiring. Next season, the couple plan to take on the interior. Stay tuned!

This armoire was left in the house and has been there all these years. When Sandy and Bill moved the piece they found the stamp on the back than proves it was one of Major Stanton’s furnishings. A truly wonderful find!

Charles S. Sprague House (“The Gables”) built in 1907

Sprague came to Goldfield in December, 1905, with an established reputation as a prominent newspaperman and politician fromColorado.

Charles S. Sprague

In January, 1906, he purchased the Goldfield News and developed the newspaper into one of the most successful businesses in the district.

Mrs. Blanche Sprague

Mrs. Sprague, a member of the Mayflower Society, was a descendent of both John Alden and Miles Standish, and was a leader in both the social and charitable activities of Goldfield.

Mrs. Blanche Sprague was the founder of the first Nevada Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The home of Mrs. Blanche Sprague, “The Gables”, is where the first meeting was held in February of 1910.

The Gables

2010 marked the centennial of the D.A.R. in Nevada. In honor of this on August 22, 2010, the Daughters of the American Revolution Nevada Chapters, presented the owners of the Gables, Mr. and Mrs. John Ekman, a plaque to commemorate 100 years. The event took place at the entrance to the Gables residence on Crook Street in Goldfield, Nevada. The public was invited to attend. Listed as #22 in the Goldfield Walking Tour Booklet

The Rectory building of the First Methodist Episcopal Church

The Rectory building of the First Methodist Episcopal Church built in 1912, housed Reverend J.L. Collins pastor of the church. The building, owned by Esmeralda County is currently used as a offices and a meeting place for the Goldfield Chamber of Commerce and the Goldfield Historical Society.

The building had fallen into disrepair and in the early 1980’s volunteers of the Goldfield Chamber and the Goldfield Historical Society requested funds to have it restored for the use of both organizations. Various donations and the Southern Nevada Private Industry council contributed to the restoration of the building. Local professionals, Volunteers and Students of Esmeralda County restored the building with a new roof, and installing plumbing, heat and an additional room.

Thanks to the hard work of volunteers and perseverance in both organizations the building did not succumb to the ravages of time. The building is a good example of how restoration projects can bring new life and use to small town America.

Recently, county employees and volunteers repaired and replaced the Front porch and painted the building. Listed as #47 in the Goldfield Walking Tour Booklet

THOMAS G. LOCKHART HOUSE – Historical Marker #27

The house sits on the NW corner of Euclid and Elliott Avenues in Goldfield. Built somewhere between 1906 and 1908, it was originallythe home of Thomas G. Lockhart, a mining pioneer who arrived in in the new gold camp from Tonopah around 1903 – 1904. Interesting factoid: The house was not built on this site… but was moved here from another, unknown, location.

There was no inside sanitary arrangements when the house was built. So the outside “necessary” was left behind when the house was moved to this location.

According to local legend, the area where the house now rests was a training site for the famous Ganz-Nelson Prize Fight held in 1906. Thomas Lockhart was highly respected by his peers.

He was eventually able to purchase the controlling interest in the very successful Florence Mine estimated to have a total production of $9,000.000. As a point of interest, the Florence Mine was the only large producing mine not to be absorbed into the powerful Goldfield Consolidated Mine Company.

The Janus Associates Historical Buildings Report from 1981-82 waxes positively lyrical about the design of the home and we quote:

“The Thomas G. Lockhart house is a one and a half story wood frame structure with wood shingled wall surfaces. The massing of the house is square, measuring 25 feet to a side, and is distinguished by a very steep truncated pyramidal roof. The roof is the most distinctive element of the house and features four gabled dormers projecting from each slope. Original wood shingles are still in place on the roof. Eaves are enclosed, slightly bellcast and detailed with cornice moulding. Shed roofed additions occur along both the front and rear walls of the house. At the main (east) facade the shed roof addition obscures the original inset entry. The Lockhart house is in a deteriorated condition but with only minor modifications to its original design, Its design shows stylistic influence from the Southern Colonial, Georgian Revival and Shingle styles. The house should be protected and preserved.”

Well… hard to improve on a description like that!

The house sat empty and deteriorating for many years. In February of 2018 it was purchased by Jon and Kim Aurich of Goldfield (and Las Vegas.) Once the deal was complete, it was all hands on deck. The whole family went to work cleaning and repairing. Years of old storage was sorted and trash hauled away. Loads of rubbish and overgrowth were cleared from the grounds.

There were serious problems with the deteriorated wooden foundation as well as broken glass and tortured window frames. According to Aurich’s information, the house had not been lived in since 1947.

That left plenty of time for nature and vandals to have their way with this beautiful old house. Through the years the wooden foundation blocks had rotted or sank into the soil. Jacks were necessary to raise the house as much as 4 inches in some places with new blocks to put it all right. The glass was another huge job. Many hours were spent repairing the frames and replacing the glass broken either by nature or vandals. This job amounted to a whopping 21 panes, both large and small.

The inside of the house is constructed a bit different than some of the other historic homes. While many of the houses used the common single wall construction, the inside partitions in this house were framed with 2 x 4’s (real ones) and covered with 1 x 12 boards nailed horizontally. (Single wall construction used 1 x 12’s vertically with metal braces to keep the walls from warping.) And there were a few elegant touches… like this beautiful door knob and plate.

All in all, a wonderful job and a lovely old home saved from the ravages of time.