United Comstock Merger Mill, American Flat, Comstock Mining District, Storey County, Nevada, USAi

Regional Level Types
United Comstock Merger Mill	Processing Plant (Inactive)
American Flat	Flat
Comstock Mining District	Mining District
Storey County	County
Nevada	State
USA	Country

To learn more, visit: https://allaroundnevada.com/americanflat/
Bureau of Land Management Carson City District Office 5665 Morgan Mill Road Carson City, NV 89701
(775) 885-6000
U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management
The Historic Mill Site at American Flat
Former Home of the United Comstock Merger Mill

1922 Opening Day Celebration for the American Flat Mill. Nevada Historical Society.
Nevada’s Rich Mining History
In 1859 miners discovered the Comstock Lode—a massive silver ore body beneath Virginia City, Nevada. Word spread, and people traveled here from California and the eastern United States in search of riches. Virginia City prospered, and the Comstock Lode rose to national significance. The largest boom, the Big Bonanza, occurred in 1873–1880. Soon after, mining operations exhausted the highest-grade ores and the region’s economy declined.
In the 1910s and 1920s mining engineers Roy Hardy and Alex Wise sought to take advantage of a new technology that used cyanide to extract gold and silver from ore. They believed that this Merrill-Crowe process would allow them to mine and mill low-grade ores and tailings at a profit. With the financial backing of local
An ore train, with its electric battery locomotive, brought ore from the workings in Gold Hill and Virginia City to Building 1, the Ore Bin. Joe Curtis Collection.
V & T locomotive #25 delivering building materials to the mill during construction. Joe Curtis Collection.
The mill office on opening day, September 23, 1922. Nevada Historical Society.
rancher Herbert Humphrey and wealthy investors in the Northeast, the United Comstock Merger Mill was constructed in 1922.
The mill, now commonly known as the American
Flat Mill, spread out over 29 acres. It boasted eight buildings, a 10,000-foot-long tunnel for electric
trains transporting ore and water to the mill, and connections to two spurs of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad (V & T). Two trains with as many as twelve cars ran at any time through the haulage tunnel, delivering up to 6,500 tons of ore per train per day. The V & T transported houses for workers, building materials, mining equipment, and other supplies to the mill.
Locals celebrated the completion of the mill, believing it would usher in a new era of prosperity. At the time, the mill was the largest of its kind in the world. The buildings and infrastructure, along with a town of prefabricated houses for the workers, cost $5 million. Historians would later describe the American Flat Mill as the “last gasp of the Comstock.”
Workers installing equipment at the fine-grinding building, 1922. Nevada Historical Society.

Fall of a Giant
Hazards to the Public
The American Flat Mill was short-lived, closing in
1926. The costs of mining and milling had been underestimated, partly because the ore proved sticky and difficult to process. To make matters worse, the ore’s value had been overestimated, and silver continued to fall in value from a dollar an ounce in 1920, to about
Abandoned mining and milling sites are dangerous and can be deadly. The American Flat Mill was no different. The ruins became a serious public safety hazard. Unfortunately, fencing and warning signs posted by
67 cents an ounce in 1924. Ultimately, the Morse Brothers of Denver, Colorado, stripped and sold all of the machinery and items of value from the site, leaving only concrete ruins behind. Even workers’ houses were moved to other locations, such as Virginia City.
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) did not deter visitors. Serious injuries occurred every year, and one fatality was reported. A 2008 audit by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of the Interior directed the BLM to mitigate the hazards. Six years later, all the buildings were demolished.
By the 1960s the immense ruins, with their elaborate architecture, became a major attraction for locals and youthful partiers. The intriguing backdrop drew artists, filmmakers, and photographers as well. Graffiti, ranging from crude to intricate, would cover almost every inch of the ruins. For safety reasons, the mill was demolished in 2014.
Today, nothing remains of the American Flat Mill,
but visitors can visit the historic site. It is located 1.5 miles south of Gold Hill, Nevada

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