Battle Mountain owes a part of its existence to the town of Argenta.
Though today Argenta is more of an empty I-80 freeway exit, the settlement marked one of the first planned and hoped-for railroad and mining-based settlements along the Humboldt.
Argenta, which sprouted after an 1866 silver discovery, was the site of the original train station along the Central Pacific Railroad. The town had a post office and was a major nexus of mining ore transportation for early Lander County.
According to Shawn Hall in Romancing Nevada’s Past, “The town became a shipping point for the Austin mines, and residents had high hopes that Austin would help make Argenta the railroad center of Lander County.”
However, things started to go sour for Argenta with the booming of mines in the Battle Mountains west of town.
Plus, mines like Galena were a bit closer to Austin (though only by less than 20 miles). In 1870, this observation prompted the Argenta townsfolk to move the entire town to what is now Battle Mountain.
A visit to the town site of Argenta is more of an archaeological dig with the eyes. The town folk were quite serious about their transport, thus nothing is hardly left at the small plot except for a foundation, battered trees, and a few holes in the ground.
The “ruins” are located right off the Argenta exit, to the east along the access road about a mile from the Baker Hughes facility. One has to walk across the tracks to get to site marked by the plot of trees.
(Sources: Romancing Nevada’s Past; 1994)
