Feature

Cowboy Window. Graffiti artists at American Flat would creatively blend their visions into the unique architectural spaces. Unfortunately, much of the artwork was destined to be marred with the cock-and-balls manifesto of less talented taggers.

(photo: howard Goldbaum)

The BLM tore down a Nevada icon. UNR professor Howard Goldbaum documentS its life and death.

STORY BY Howard Goldbaum

I grew up on the Connecticut shore. When I was 15, my dad gave me my own boat, a 12-foot wooden skiff with a 10 horsepower rope-start outboard motor. He warned me not to take it beyond the breakwaters on Long Island Sound, a couple of miles out. Later that summer, I found myself—along with a girl in a bikini—way beyond the breakwater, about to begin my misspent youth. Had I been born in the Reno area, however, my youth would likely have been misspent within the ruins of the United Comstock Merger Mill at American Flat.

Center: American Flat circa 1924. In the 1860s, American City was in contention to be the capital of Nevada, but instead it sank into oblivion. A half-century later, as seen here, the town of Comstock emerged, with its small pre-fab homes for workers and larger administration buildings flanking the sprawling structures of the United Comstock Merger Mill at American Flat. The trestle at the right supported an electric mine train that extended through a tunnel 13,500 feet long to the workings in Gold Hill and Virginia City.

(photo: Joe Curtis ColleCtion)

Bottom: The ruins of the American Flat Mill. Before the demolition commenced in midNovember, the mill ruins at American Flat consisted of eight buildings. The largest was the sprawling cyanide plant, which fills the bottom half of this photograph. This multi-part structure was once covered by an immense roof. The tallest was the four-story fine grinding and concentration building at the upper right.

(photo: howard Goldbaum) continued on page 13

A M E R I C A N F L A T L I N E D

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Just south of Virginia City, the eight skeletal structures of the mill had a far longer decline than they had a working life. The mill was built in 1922 but was shuttered and stripped of anything useful just four years later. While its reinforced concrete construction and its cyanide-slurry process were both innovative for the era, the decline in the price of silver put an end to the venture.

The buildings slowly decayed, the protruding rebar and gaping holes providing an enticing stage for all the drama of youth, an engaging if dystopian setting for graffiti artists, photographers, and Airsoft warriors. The ruins were so evocative that a movie, Godmonster of Indian Flats, was made here in 1973; something about radiation and mutated sheep.

At her Thanksgiving table this year, Cathy Schmidt of Reno told her sons, 20 and 23, that after hearing about it on the news she and a friend went to American Flat to take pictures prior to the demolition. She asked them if they had ever been out there.

“Uh, yeah, Mom,” they replied.

Schmidt asked her sons why they had never told her about it.

“It’s not the kind of place you tell your mom about,” they said.

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Top: Virtual reality panorama. The VR tour commissioned by the BLM (http://www. allaroundnevada.com/ american-flat-mill/) was created by stitching together multiple photographs from each of 127 viewpoints to create the interconnected 360-degree environments. We are experimenting with adapting the virtual tour using the Oculus Rift head mounted display. Perhaps one day there will be a World of Warcraft map: “Assault on American Flat.”

(photo: howard Goldbaum)

Middle left: Airsoft family feud. In October, Kevin Carrick of Carson City brought his five children, ages 12-18, plus three others, for a friendly if occasionally painful Airsoft pellet gun battle in the ruins.

(photo: howard Goldbaum)

Middle right: Fashion shoot. Sparks photographer Steve Erickson captured this edgy fashion shoot in the mill ruins in April 2008. Removal of milling machinery soon after the plant’s closing in 1926 caused the gaping holes in the concrete flooring.

(photo: howard Goldbaum)

Exploring the tunnels. Tunnels, once used for moving streams of ore slurry throughout the mill, were covered with graffiti. In the virtual-reality tour of the mill, two of the tunnels may be entered and explored.

(photo: howard Goldbaum) Far from home. At the north side of the fine grinding and concentration building, rows of concrete pillars covered in multi-hued, multi-layered graffiti combine with the sunrise light to create a magical environment. The mill was one of the locations used in the 1989 film Far From Home, with Drew Barrymore. Inverted pyramids. The inverted pyramids of the concentration tanks inspired a graffiti artist to paint the iconic “Eye of Providence” within the light-filled triangle at the end of the structure.

(photo: howard Goldbaum)

Itʼ s happening in !

ACTIVITIES

NEVADA SMALL FARM CONFERENCE The Nevada Small Farm Conference is a premier gathering of regional farmers, ranchers, businesses, students, federal and state agriculture agencies, food policy advocates and many others involved in high desert agriculture. Workshops and sessions will address a wide variety of topics relevant to the needs of regional farmers and a diverse range of those connected to Nevada agriculture. $105 before 12/31. Additional fees for pre-conference workshop and Friday night mixer. Price increases after 12/31. Th, 1/22, 10AM-4PM, F, 1/23, 9AM-4:30PM and Sa, 1/24, 9AM-1PM. All ages welcome. Info: Ann Louhela, (775)423-7565 x2260 or ann. louhela@wnc.edu. JA Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave.(775) 3563300

CROCHET CONNECTION Learn to crochet or share tips with other crochet enthusiasts. Th, 4-5:45PM, free. Spanish Springs Library, 7100A Pyramid Lake Highway. (775) 424-1800 FOUR SEASONS BOOK CLUB The book club meets the fi rst Saturday of each month. Call to fi nd out each month’s book title. First Sa of every month, 1-2PM, free. Sparks Library, 1125 12th St. (775) 352-3200 CONVERSATION CAFE The drop-in conversation program meets on the fi rst Saturday of each month, 2-4PM, free. Sparks Library, 1125 12th St. (775) 352-3200 CLICKETS KNITTING GROUP This class is for knitters of all ages and levels. Yarn and needles are available. First and Third Su of every month, 1:30-3PM, free. Spanish Springs Library, 7100A Pyramid Lake Highway, Spanish Springs (775) 424-1800 BIKINI BULL RIDING DJ and Bikini Bull Riding Competition. Su, 5 & 9PM through 12/28, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

PERFORMANCE AND MUSIC

DAVE RUSSELL Th, 1/15, 8PM, F, 1/16, 8PM and Sa, 1/17, 8PM, no cover. JA Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300 TOM DRINNON Th, 1/22, 8PM, F, 1/23, 8PM and Sa, 1/24, 8PM, no cover. JA Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300 MICHAEL BECK BAND Th, 1/22, 8PM, F, 1/23, 8PM and Sa, 1/24, 8PM, no cover. JA Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300 DANWISE AND FRIENDS A free monthly comedy show featuring local talent. The event is BYOB and limited beer will be provided free. Third Th of every month, 8PM, starting 1/15. Free. The Generator, Inc., 1240 Icehouse Ave. LIVE MUSIC Sa, 9PM and Su, 3PM, no cover. CBQ, 1330 Scheels Dr. (775) 359-1109 LINE DANCING LESSONS Line dancing lessons from the Gilley’s Girls from 6PM-8PM. Enjoy DJ Trey from 6PM-mid. W, 6PM through 12/31. No cover. JA Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300 DJ RAZZ Come dance the night away to DJ RAZZ! You can even karaoke if you like. Ladies Night every Friday night. Drink Specials all night. F, 9PM. Paddy & Irene’s Irish Pub, 906-A Victorian Ave. (775) 358-5484 LOCALS NIGHT Locals Night, DJ. M, 5PM through 12/29, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300 CLASSIC ROCK NIGHT Classic rock night with DJ. Tu, 5PM through 12/30, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300 LADIES NIGHT & TOUGHEST COWBOY Ladies Night w/live music and Toughest Cowboy Competition. DJ breaks until midnight. W, 7 & 9PM through 12/31, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

ACOUSTIC WONDERLAND This is a singer-songwriter showcase. Come down to Paddy’s and bring your acoustic instruments. Sign-ups are at 7:30PM and music begins at 8PM. Drink Specials all night! Th, 8PM, no cover. Paddy & Irene’s Irish Pub, 906-A Victorian Ave. (775) 358-5484 LIVE MUSIC & LATE NIGHT DJ Live music with late-night DJ. F, 5PM-2AM & 7-11PM through 12/26, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300 LIVE MUSIC & LATE NIGHT DJ Live music with late-night DJ. Sa, 5PM-2AM & 7PM-midnight through 12/27, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

KARAOKE

KARAOKE WITH BOBBY DEE Tu, 8PM, no cover. Morelli’s G Street Saloon, 2285 G St. (775) 355-8281 KARAOKE Th-Sa, 9PM, no cover. Bottom’s Up Saloon, 1923 Prater Way (775) 359-3677

A M E R I C A N F L A T L I N E D

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Storey County Emergency Manager Joe Curtis has heard much folklore regarding “the Flats.” Someone once soberly informed him that the structures were haunted due to their use as a home for unwed mothers. Curtis remembers the Storey County fire or sheriff’s department responding to emergency calls there a couple of times a month each summer, ranging from outof-control bonfires to stolen cars wrecked and abandoned in the ruins. One man, according to Curtis, fell from an upper story and was impaled on a piece of rebar. He survived. Another man, inebriated and riding a quad down a flight of stairs in the dark, was not so fortunate.

Yet the site inspired a passionate local following, some of whom commented on the FaceBook “Save American Flat” page, with 2,379 “likes:” • Jared: “My church as a teenager. Found myself out there.” • Brandon: “The few random times showing up out there in the middle of the night to no fires, no cars, but random shadows lurking about.”

• Jenny: “A post-apocalyptic zombie inspiring fantasy. Raw and magnificent.” • Gina: “Every building, every hole & dark space spoke like the walls were written on.” • Anne: “I have stories I can never tell but also never forget.”

After considering a few alternatives, the Bureau of Land Management determined that the American Flat Mill was a liability they could no longer abide, and contrary to the hopes of historic preservationists and others, oversaw the demolition of the ruins toward the end of last year. As a part of the required historical mitigation, the BLM asked me to create a virtual-reality exploration of the site, now but a memory. While it surely cannot compare with the real thing, this is one memory to which you can always return: www.allaroundnevada.com/american-flat-mill/ Ω

For another account of american Flat, see “the incredible hulks” by dennis myers at www.newsreview.com/reno/ incredible-hulks/content?oid=1940069

A new view. A few weeks before its demolition, with many years of brush and trees stripped away from its western side, a novel view of the concentration tanks building appeared. The declining price of silver, $1 an ounce when the mill opened in 1922 but only 53 cents in 1926, sealed the fate of the venture, with the loss of 500 jobs on the Comstock.

(photo: howard Goldbaum)

Phantasmagorical creatures. The many phantasmagorical animals who once inhabited the ruins of the American Flat Mill have been reduced to dust. The undersea monsters, ghostly apparitions, and clones of the Alien are no more. In a year or so, after the site has been returned to a natural state, the only animals there will be the herd of horses who call American Flat home.

(photo: howard Goldbaum)

Demolition scene. The demolition scene on Dec. 19 showed all eight of the American Flat Mill structures as piles of rubble. With their early 20th-Century abundant use of rebar, some of the buildings presented a difficult task for the wrecking ball.

(photo: Steve erickSon)