Industry
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Levi Smiley found gold on Smiley Creek in 1878, and E.M. Wilson discovered a still richer lode 8 miles above here near Vienna on June 4, 1879. Before shutting down in 1886, Vienna was a thriving mining camp with a $200,000 twenty-stamp mill nearby to crush gold ore. Miners here supported 14 saloons, 3 stores, 2 meat markets, a bank, a hotel, a sawmill, 2 livery stables, 6 restaurants, and, in 1882, a newspaper. More than 200 buildings disappeared when Vienna became a ghost town shortly after 1900.
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