Washington
[Not to be confused with Washington in Nye or Storey Counties.]
Following a gold discovery in 1861, the Washington Mining District was organized. Little is written about its early days, but in 1867 gold and silver discoveries led to the formation of a new camp called Washington astride the East Walker River. By the end of that summer, work was underway on the installation of an 8-stamp mill by Mr. Brooks & company, placed into operation in October. By December, however, the mill and mines were noted as being idle and Washington - a camp of four lumber homes and several of log, brush, and stone - was mostly empty. Devastating floods wiped out an estimated two-thirds of the town on December 31 of that year, though the mill was spared and plans were subsequently made to relocate it to Pine Grove. Little other activity was found at Washington during the next decades, but a post office was opened for fifteen months (possibly to serve local ranches or scattered prospectors, as the post office application mentions "no village" in the area). Interestingly, despite much activity being noted in newspapers of the time, Washington appeared on some maps as late as 1922. A concrete shell of a building stands at the site, likely a relic of twentieth century ranching as numerous ranches lined the East Walker River.
