Bowers Mansion

Built in 1864 and restored in 1967, Bowers Mansion recalls the wealth of the Comstock Bonanza. Lemuel S. "Sandy" and Eilley Orrum Bowers were probably the first millionaires produced by the famous find in Gold Canyon. As strangers, they had adjoining claims, and after a rich vein was struck, they were soon married and had the mansion built. Misfortune followed fortune and soon all was lost as the richness of their vein gave out, a new mill was destroyed, financiers balked, and Sandy died in 1868. Maneuvering to make the property self sustaining, Eilley struggled on, but in 1878 she lost the mansion by foreclosure to Myron C. Lake. After that, the property had a succession of owners, including Henry Ritter, who managed it as a popular resort from 1903 to 1946. Eilley Orrum Bowers died in poverty, and unwittingly she and Sandy left a legacy to Nevada.

Nevada · United States