VIRGINIA CITY

town, seat (1876) of Madison county, southwestern Montana, U.S., on the Ruby River. Founded in 1863 when gold was discovered in nearby Alder Gulch, it was the first town to be incorporated (1864) in Montana and was the territorial capital (186575). The mines are no longer productive but the town has been reconstructed in the style of gold-rush days. Restored buildings include the offices of the Post, Montana's first newspaper (issued Aug. 27, 1864). The vigilantes organized there in the 1860s exterminated the notorious Plummer outlaw gang. Tourism, supplemented by livestock raising, is the economic mainstay. In the summer, 19th-century drama and vaudeville shows can be seen in the Old Opera House. Nevada City, just west, is also a reconstructed gold camp. Pop. (1990) 142. town, seat (1861) of Storey county, western Nevada, U.S., on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada range, 20 miles (32 km) south of Reno. Settled in 1859 and named for a prospector, Old Virginia Fennimore, it became a booming mining camp after the discovery of the Comstock Lode (chiefly silver) on nearby Mount Davidson. When the Nevada Territory was created by Congress in 1861, Virginia City had more than three-fourths of the new territory's population. In the 1870s its population reached 30,000, and there were 6 churches and more than 100 saloons. In 1875 the town was devastated by a fire. The bonanza barons such as George Hearst and John MacKay who made millions in the mines built Victorian-style mansions, and even public buildings were elaborately decorated. A reporter on the city's newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise, during its boom period was Samuel Clemens, who first signed his pen name, Mark Twain, to one of his newspaper stories. After 25 years of frantic mining activity, Virginia City's population dwindled as the ore was worked out in the 1880s. It soon became a ghost town. The remaining business housesmainly saloons and popular museums and some old mansionsare maintained for the tourist trade. The Virginia and Truckee Railroad (1869), which tapped the Comstock, has been partially restored. The area has been designated a national historic district. Pop. (1988 est.) 600.