The story
Tybo grew in a canyon of central Nevada after Shoshone people showed prospectors the silver veins in its walls in 1866; the main lode was claimed in 1870 and the boom came in 1874. The name comes from a Shoshone phrase meaning roughly 'white man's district.' By 1876 Tybo had a thousand residents, five stores, three hotels, and its own newspaper, and in 1877 it was the top lead-producing district in the country, sending more than 250 tons of bullion out each month.
Smelting takes fuel, and Tybo's came from beehive-shaped stone kilns built in 1874 that baked piñon pine into charcoal. The first slump hit in 1879 and the population crashed, but the district revived several times; a substantial 1920s boom built a new mill and smelter that carried the town to about 1937. A few seasonal residents watch over the ruins today.
What remains today
Stone and wood ruins through the canyon, mine works on the slopes, and — the highlight — the well-preserved beehive charcoal kilns from 1874.
Questions from the field
- What are the Tybo charcoal kilns?
- Three beehive-shaped stone kilns built in 1874 that slow-baked piñon pine into charcoal to fuel the town's smelters. They're among the best-preserved charcoal kilns in Nevada and the main draw at Tybo today.
From the field
The most valuable part of this record is the part only visitors can write.
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Primary sources for this record
- — USGS GNIS feature 856158
- — Travel Nevada — Tybo ghost town and charcoal kilns
- — Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology — Tybo mining district