Ward Charcoal Ovens

Ward Charcoal Ovens (HM1AW0)

Location: Sewickley, NV 15143 White Pine County
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Country: United States of America
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N 39° 2.222', W 114° 50.863'

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Inscription
Willow creek, a year round stream located 1/4 mile to the north, was a major stopover for freighters on the Toano to Pioche route between 1870 and 1876. "Bullwhackers" (common term for freighters) would turn out their "Sleepers" (tired oxen) in this area and pick up rested ones to complete the journey.

In March of 1872, while searching for sleepers, John Henry and William Ballinger discovered silver ore in nearby Ward Gulch. By 1876 several claims were staked and the town of Ward grew to a population of 1,500 and had two roasting furnaces to process ore.

These 6 ovens were built in the mid 1870's to make charcoal to fuel Wards roasting furnaces.

The overs were constructed by Italian masons and are larger and of finer construction than most ovens found in Nevada.

They measure 30 feet in height, 27 feet in diameter at the base and hold approximately 35 cords of wood. Each cord of wood produced 30 bushels of charcoal which was then hauled to the roasting furnaces at Ward.

As railroads penetrated the west, charcoal was replaced by coke made from coal and the charcoal making industry faded away. These ovens remain as a unique and silent reminder of Nevada's mining history.


Please help us preserve these historical ovens by respecting them and not climbing on them. Most of the damage you see has occurred in the past 20 years by climbing on them. Thank you for visiting and supporting Nevada State Parks.
Details
HM NumberHM1AW0
Tags
Placed ByNevada State Parks
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Tuesday, September 9th, 2014 at 8:02pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)11S E 686281 N 4323090
Decimal Degrees39.03703333, -114.84771667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 39° 2.222', W 114° 50.863'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds39° 2' 13.32" N, 114° 50' 51.78" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)412, 724
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 500-568 Unnamed Road, Sewickley NV 15143, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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Nearby Markersshow on map
Making Charcoal
0.07 miles
The Ward Cemetery
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Ward Mining District
6.22 miles
Ely - Forging the Link
14.77 miles
Nevada Northern Railway
14.98 miles
Settlement of Lund
15.13 miles
Jedediah Strong Smith
17.59 miles
Osceola
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Stephen Tyng Mather
30.78 miles
Hamilton
36.54 miles
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