"A roaring camp" is the way this mining town was often called.  The development of the Comstock Mines was a natural sequel to gold discovery in California.

Among the earliest locators on the Lode was a wanderer from the State of Virginia, named Ebenezer James Fennimore, also called "Old Virginney".  Allegedly he stumbled and broke a bottle of whiskey on a dirt street in the mining camp that was developing on the slopes of Mount Davidson.  He promptly christened the new community, "Virginia City".

The massive gold and silver strike - considered the largest single ore pocket ever discovered - was the Comstock Lode in 1873.  This major find was called the "Big Bonanza" and yielded more than $100 million over a six-year period.