The late 1800s and early 1900s in Winnemucca included stories of violent activity and suicide paired with underground establishments for alcohol during the prohibition, and travelers wandering through during the gold rush days.
Humboldt Museum Director Dana Toth and assistant Jerry Leon gave Chamber of Commerce members a curated spooky tour of downtown Winnemucca during the times of the Wild West.
Since there were no hospitals in Winnemucca, doctors were called to attend to medical matters and surgeries in hotels; the Winnemucca Hotel was one of the only places to take a sick or injured person between 1866 and 1886.
Even after 1886, when the first official hospital-type establishment was opened, several doctors (and those pretending to be doctors) kept their offices in rooms at the Winnemucca Hotel. Over 100 people died either by medical causes or suicide at the Winnemucca Hotel.
The Winnemucca Hotel sat at the corner of Bridge and First Street and was recently demolished.
“The Bar of Many Murders” sat at the corner of Bridge and Second street for 113 years where the convention center parking lot is now. The actual name of the establishment changed throughout its history but its nickname came from the 8+ murders that occurred there and the countless other bloody brawls that spilled out into the city streets.
On September 18, 1877, bartender James Hubler was shot in the back of the head at the bar. The Silver State Newspaper reported his brain was exposed as a result of a 2-inch wound to his skull. Dr. Hanson expected him to recover, so long as inflammation didn’t set in; he died seven weeks later.
Another man was shot in the forehead on the street in front of the bar in a fight and died eight days later.
The Silver State Saloon/Grand Saloon was built in 1878 by Yves Pickard and also had rooms used by doctors and beds for the ill in the late 1870s. The Saloon was located in the area where Phillips Furniture is currently.
In November 1884 George Castro laid in a bed there for nearly two weeks recovering from a gunshot wound he received as a result of a dice game gone bad. Dr. Hanson tended to Castro here and initially thought he would die. Surprisingly he recovered and went to his assailant’s trial.
In 1905 a fire demolished most of the block along Bridge Street. Prior to the fire, the location at Bridge and Second street was home to underground brothels, speakeasies and boxing rings.
Speakeasies were establishments that sold alcohol illegally during the prohibition which lasted from 1920 to 1933. One speakeasy was located in the basement downtown on the corner of Bridge Street and Second Street, along with a pink room that still holds clues to its use as an underground boxing ring.
On the corner of Bridge Street and Winnemucca Boulevard stood both the El Dorado and Humboldt Hotels. The El Dorado burned to the ground in 1918, just months after it was expanded to four stories. The Humboldt Hotel, also a multi-story building, burned in 1975.
Anyone who wants to a more extensive history of downtown Winnemucca can visit the Humboldt Museum during business hours, download the Humboldt Museum smartphone application for an interactive walking tour or grab a copy of the Mainstreet Winnemucca walking tour book.
