The video I link below gives you the two main streets that would have been the main intersection of Aurora: Antelope and Pine Streets. Those two streets are where most of the business, drinking, and gambling would have taken place. There were other streets around the town. On those streets there would have been cabins and houses people would have lived. After the years of the first mining boom and until the 20th century, most people that lived in Aurora would have lived peaceful lives. I tend to focus on the "wild west" era so just about everything I talk about in the video is from the early 1860s when there was a lawless element at Aurora.
Now a reminder about the town, there is nothing really there in the town anymore. Around the time of World War 2 many people came to Aurora to take the bricks of the buildings for use elsewhere. You can find some of the foundations of the buildings while looking at the remains. However, some of the fun is trying to recreate the town from the pictures we have.
For example, looking east on Pine Street:
This picture taken from 2020 combined with the black and white picture gives you an idea of how the buildings would have been on the Pine Street looking east. The Exchange Saloon would have been right next to where two adults and kid are on the right side of the picture. That was the most important saloon in town and most of the "wild west" action happened there.
At this point, I want to mention the mistake I back in 2011. I assumed the name "Exchange" was the name of something called the "Merchants Exchange Hotel" which would have been a few hundred feet behind me on West Pine Street. I had seen the name "exchange" in print so many times that I assumed they were all the same. Recently, I read there was another "exchange "saloon on the lower level/basement of the courthouse. Each time I come to Aurora I learn something new.
Going up the road one eventually encounters this:
This is The Last Chance Saloon foundations.
The road eventually splits. The side of the road on the left continues Pine Street. If one goes right then it is Wide West Street that takes you here:
This is where the Daly Gang house would have been. The Daly Gang was hired by one of the mining companies to protect their claims while they were settled in court. The gang of professional gunfighters eventually became deputy marshals in town due to one of the gang members being elected City Marshall. So, for about a year the gang controlled the town.
I am going to stop here for now. I will come back in a day or two for another blog entry on this town.
The Streets of Aurora 2.0 (Youtube)
My old blogs I did during 2011:
For my blog on the Daly Gang go HERE.
My old blogs on Aurora during 2011 go HERE.
More blogs I did on Aurora during 2011 go HERE.
Some of the books that are important about Aurora:
1)McGrath, Roger D. Gunfighters Highwaymen & Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier. University of California Press, 1984.
Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/3ejduebr
McGrath's book is the classic for all the "wild west" information regarding Aurora and Bodie ghost towns.
2)Shaw, Clifford Alpheus. Aurora Nevada 1860-1960 : Mining Camp Frontier City Ghost Town. Second ed. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018.
Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/bdd4pzeh
Most people will want to get the paperback edition in the above link. This the best handbook for trying to "recreate" the town of Aurora. LOTS of pictures through the book. In fact, using this book and pausing my video might be the best way to appreciate the town! :)
3)Silver, Sue. Mineral County Nevada. Museum Ass. of Mineral County, 2011.
Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/wzjknjwa
This book has a chapter on Aurora that was useful.
4)Shaw, Clifford Alpheus. The Last Days of the Daly Gang at Aurora Nevada. CreateSpace, 2014.
Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/bdd4pzeh
This small book gives most of testimony people had in the days following the final murder committed by the gang up until they were hanged. I would recommend the McGrath book with the chapter on the gang first, then getting this one if you are looking for more information. It does include some of the location pictures of where things happened (kind of like what I did in the video).
