The Ward Charcoal ovens were operational from 1875 thru 1879 the silver boom years of the Ward Mines. Silver ore was discovered in 1872 when freighters were looking for oxen that were grazing in the Willow Creek Basin area near Ely Nevada. The beehive shaped ovens replaced the old pit system of producing charcoal because the ovens were more efficient way to reduce Pinyon Pine and Juniper in charcoal. The charcoal ovens were used to heat up the silver ore.
When phased out due to depleted ore they had another use, sheltering stockmen and prospectors during foul weather and had a reputation as a hideout for stagecoach bandits. I visited the park and the ovens are huge inside.
Now the teenagers sneak inside and party or so the lady who ran an old trading post near by told us. I passed on the Buffalo hangburgers. In the middle of no where on a dirt road but well worththe visit. Thanks Marie for sponsoring Postcard Friendship Friday. PFF
8 comments:
Hi Judy! You have a great blog and I subscribed to your feed :) Can't ever get enough postcard information!
Joyce
How interesting. Obviously they must be a lot bigger than they look at first glance, if they can be used for sheltering.
This is very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
debby
Judy! Happy PFF! Now I feel guily about eating a buffalo burger. There is a buffalo farm near my Dad's house. The meat is virtually fat free. It's amazingly tasty! They seem to beautiful and peaceful to eat though... cows are too I suppose... I wish that I could be a vegetarian actually... I tried it for 2 years but was weak and had huge bruises all over me from the lack of iron. I had such a hard time balancing my diet even with viatamin supplements!
The door way is twice the size of a person entering so they are big.
Judy
Have any boxes of postcards you would like to sell? I pay top dollar.
Ooo...cool....I would love to see those ovens. Love your postcard and thanks for the history.
Have a beautiful weekend
Wow... as much as I dislike the desert I would definitely like to go inside one of those -- maybe hide out for a few days. :)
Interesting postcard, interesting info. Thanks for sharing about it.
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