Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings

Address: Off Interstate 15, 35 miles south of LV Goodsprings, NV - About 35 miles south of Vegas on I-15. From the Strip, take I-15 south to Jean, heading west on Nevada Route 161.

Phone Number: (702) 874-9362

Hours: Open daily, 11 a.m. until the last person leaves.

Cost: Free.

Goodsprings is located 34 miles southwest of Las Vegas. The town is reached via I-15 to Jean, then west 7 miles on SR 161.

In 1904, when about 200 people lived at the mines, new owners of the Yellow Pine Mine, then the principal lead and zinc mine in the district, began to lay plans to increase production. Until the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad (now the UPRR) opened in 1905, ores had to be taken by wagon to distant shipping points. With the new rail connection to Los Angeles and Salt Lake, it became feasible to ship the lead and zinc from the local mines.

The Yellow Pine Mining Co. built a narrow gauge railroad to connect the mines to its mill at Goodsprings, and to take the ores to the main line at Jean. Opened in 1911, the railroad and the mill stimulated the growth of the town. In 1918, there were about 800 people, several stores and saloons, a post office and school, a grand hotel and a weekly newspaper.

Goodsprings was thriving-until the post WWI mining bust. Gold mines in the 1930s and government need for lead and zinc in WWII resulted in minor excitement, but the mines of the Yellow Pine Mining District have been largely dormant since the 1950s. The railroad was taken up in 1934.