Features Rural Wrangler

town’s original structures along with plenty of mining artifacts scattered around town. There’s much to do and see in and around Pioche, but here are some of our recommendations to get you started.

Overnighters

Overland Hotel & Saloon –This 1945 establishment offers a real-deal saloon bar and imaginatively themed rooms. If you’re seeking a haunted overnighter, ask about the Victorian Suite.

STAY ANOTHER DAY

Need a venue for an event? Both the Million Dollar Courthouse and Thompson Opera House can be reserved for

Hutchings Motel – These five tidy cabins are available April through November. You have the pick between The Cowboy, The Hunter, The Miner, The Gunfighter, or The Rancher.

Motherlode Motel – This charming location offers eight rooms at a great value. Pets are welcome!

Live Like A Local

Forget your toothbrush or need to stock up on snacks? Not a problem: The Meadow Valley Market has everything you’re looking for.

Pioche RV Park and Campground – Enjoy spacious back-in RV sites and a small campground complete with full hookups, laundry facilities, a community bathroom with hot showers, free Wifi, picnic tables, and a dump station.

Tillies Country Cabins – Each of these quiet cabins located just behind Tillies Mini Mart features a queen-sized bed and a kitchenette.

The Million Dollar Courthouse

In the early 1870s, Pioche began drawing up plans for a courthouse that would hopefully bring order to the rowdy silver town. But what began as an encouraging step toward civility soon famously devolved into a financing disaster.

Initially, the cost was set at $16,400 for a courthouse and $10,000 for the jail. To raise money quickly, the city sold bonds guaranteeing at least 20 percent interest for lenders. The courthouse was completed within a year, but poor planning forced the project to run nearly $90,000 over budget.

To pay for the added cost, the city sold yet more high interest bonds. The debt spiraled out of control. By 1900—30 years later—the cost had ballooned to nearly $700,000. In 1937, Pioche finally paid off its courthouse for the price of around $1 million—nearly 40 times the initial cost. By that time, however, the building had been disused for four years.

Visitors today are invited to wander inside of the Million Dollar Courthouse and its jail. Admission is free, and the building is open to the public from April through October.