The houses and barracks in this attractive company town were all white-painted and neat. Now, only waste dumps and memories remain to mark the spot.
The Ely district’s oldest copper properties are on a hill called Pilot Knob, immediately north of Kimberly.
They were not developed until the turn of the century. The Giroux Consolidated Mining Co. organized in 1903, took over Pilot Knob to begin development.
The company town of Kimberly was named for Peter L. Kimberly.
Kimberly, a pioneer in the district, was a principle stockholder of the Giroux Copper Company
and Joseph L. Giroux of Giroux Consolidated Mines suggested the name.
A post office was established on July 24, 1905.
The Nevada Northern Railway entered the district September 1906.
By this time, Kimberly had a general store, boarding house, and dwellings.
By 1910, Kimberly had its own newspaper, the Kimberly News.
When Consolidated Copper Co. acquired Giroux’s holdings in 1914,
Kimberly became one of the district’s attractive company camps.
It had all the amenities of a modern town, but was closely
controlled by the Consolidated Copper Company.
The Complete Official Road Guide to the Lincoln Highway,
published in 1916, gave the population of Kimberly as 300. The Guide stated Kimberly was
“an interesting point to tarry.” Meals, lodging, drinking water, radiator water
, campsite and telephone were available to the traveler.
In the mid-1920’s Kimberly had a school, hospital, Nevada Northern depot,
bunkhouses, boarding houses and dwellings for about 500 people.
The Depression slowed operations early in the 1930’s. After further declines,
the Kennecott Copper Corporation bought out all mines near Kimberly as well as
the townsite around 1958. The Post Office closed December 31, 1958.
The following year, mill and town were dismantled to make room for the
Trippi-Veteran open-pit operation.
