Ruth, Nevada
| Ruth | |
|---|---|
| — Census-designated place — | |
 Ruth
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| Coordinates: 39°16′42″N 114°59′18″W / 39.27833°N 114.98833°WCoordinates: 39°16′42″N 114°59′18″W / 39.27833°N 114.98833°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Nevada |
| County | White Pine |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 440 |
| Time zone | Pacific (PST) (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP codes | 89319 |
| FIPS code | |
| GNIS feature ID | |
Ruth is a small town in White Pine County, Nevada, that was founded in 1903. It is a census-designated place, with a population in 2010 of 440.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
Ruth began as a settlement for workers of the White Pine Copper Company in 1903. It derived its name from the Ruth mining claim which was named for Ruth McDonald, daughter of the original owner of the mining claim.[2]
With the opening Nevada Northern Railway in the year 1906 copper production began to boom. By 1910 the settlement was already established a small distance from the first site. Ruth was a company town for the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company: the houses belonged to the mine and the city and were administered by them. Saloons and bordellos were not permitted in the company town but were plentiful in the neighboring community of Riepetown.
A mine explosion in Ruth on July 12, 1912 killed ten people.[3]
In 1919 Ruth was the site of a labor dispute when 150 copper miners walked out demanding higher wages. Although some claimed the strike was instigated by the Industrial Workers of the World the leaders were actually from the Western Federation of Miners.[4]
At the beginning of the Great Depression, Ruth had almost 2,300 inhabitants.[5]
Nevada Consolidated Copper Co. was taken over by Kennecott Copper Corporation in 1933.[3]
Ruth ceased being a company town in 1955 when the houses were sold to the John W. Galbreath Company. Occupants were given the opportunity to purchase the homes they had been renting. Around this time the town was moved two miles north to make way for expansion of the Deep Ruth mine.[3]
In 1978 Kennecott closed the mines in Ruth[6] and the town went into decline. The elementary school closed in 1986 and remains boarded up as of June 2011.
From 1996 to 1999, the BHP Nevada Railroad was based here.
The Nevada Northern Railway Museum maintains some track in the area.
Ruth is the inspiration for the Stephen King novel Desperation.[7]
[edit] Notable Persons
Charles H. Russell, 20th governor of Nevada, worked briefly in Ruth ca. 1927.
Former U.S. Congresswoman Helen Delich Bentley, who represented the state of Maryland, was born in Ruth.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ "American FactFinder". U.S. Bureau of the Census. http://factfinder2.census.gov.
- ^ Elliott, Russell (1966). Nevada's twentieth-century mining boom: Tonopah, Goldfield, Ely. Reno: University of Nevada Press. pp. 344. ISBN 0874171334.
- ^ a b c Elliott, Russell (1990). Growing up in a company town: A family in the copper camp of McGill, Nevada. Reno: Nevada Historical Society. pp. 200.
- ^ Elliott, Russell (1961). Radical labor in the Nevada mining booms: 1900-1920. Carson City, NV: State Printing Office.
- ^ Nevada Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration (1991 (reprint of 1940 ed.)). The WPA Guide to 1930s Nevada. University of Nevada Press. pp. 315. ISBN 0874171709.
- ^ Hulse, James (2004). The Silver state: Nevada's heritage reinterpreted. 3rd ed.. Reno: University of Nevada Press. pp. 375. ISBN 0874175925.
- ^ "Desperation". StephenKing.com. http://www.stephenking.com/library/novel/desperation_inspiration.html.
- ^ "Bentley, Helen Delich". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=b000392. Retrieved 06-02-2011.
[edit] Sources
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