Old Tonopah Cemetery July 30, 2019

(This post is part of a (mostly) non-ship series about a trip to the West I took during July and August of 2019)

Located in Tonopah, Nevada, this cemetery‘s grave markers are some of the most unusual I have seen with the majority being made mostly of wood. and many of those with punched tin plates to indicate the occupant.

The lack of uniformity among the grave markers gives this cemetery a lot of character. This region’s dry climate has allowed the wood markers to survive for more than a century where they would have rotted away in a wetter climate. These markers seem to have been made by someone close to the deceased rather than by a third party as would have been done with stone markers in other cemeteries. This has allowed for more personality and feeling to show through. I thought it was interesting that about half of the cemetery seemed to be bare ground and another covered with foliage.

Many of the graves have coins or stones placed on the markers or on the grave itself. I am not certain as to the significance of this.

Several of the graves are those of the victims of the Belmont Mine Fire of February 23, 1911. Among them is of William F. Murphy, or “Big Bill”, who went into the mine three times to rescue other miners but only returned twice.

Another grave is that of a beloved Sheriff, Tom Logan, who was shot to death in nearby Manhattan, Nevada.

The infants seemed to be concentrated mainly in one area of the cemetery, the foreground of the above photo, although they were sometimes buried in or near the same plot as those they were related to.

This cemetery closed in 1911 because tailings from the Tonopah Extension Mill were washing over the graves. They donated land to the West for the still in use Tonopah Cemetery.

Next to the road passing the cemetery is a memorial to the 108 miners who died while working in Belmont and Tonopah mines between 1900 and 1941. On top is a mining cart on rails. Peeking out from the left side is the neighboring Clown Motel. More photos I took at this cemetery can be viewed by clicking this link.