Nevada City

Nine booming gold camps sprawled along remote Alder Gulch in 1863. Nevada City and Virginia City were the largest. In December 1863, Nevada City’s main street was the scene of the miners’ court trial and hanging of George Ives. This event was the catalyst for the forming of the Vigilantes. Dozens of stores and cabins extended back six blocks, but by 1876, only a few residents remained at Nevada City. The gold dredges later came through leaving piles of tailings as big as barns and by 1920, the highway had cut the town in half. By the 1950s, Cora and Alfred Finney were the only residents. Charles and Sue Bovey began collecting buildings in the early 1940s. Acquiring Nevada City from Lester and Mary Stiles, they began to place buildings here in 1959. Nevada City became a haven for endangered structures; today more than ninety buildings from across Montana line the streets. The State of Montana now maintains the historic resources at Nevada City.