Drive south from Ely on US 50 5.6 miles. Area is accessible with two-wheel
drive. Well maintained gravel road goes to Ward Charcoal Ovens State Park.
Exit right (west) on gravel road for 7 miles. Exit right (North) and follow
for three miles to Ward.
Not much remains at Ward today. Ruins scattered throughout a large
area. A good road, built by Silver King Mines in the 1960s, goes past
the main cemetery and some of the ruins and is not the original road
through the town. Several buildings were demolished to put this road
in. The mine at the end of this road is fenced, with a locked gate and
is private property, marked as such. A large section of old foundations
are across the ravine from the main cemetery.
The first school in Ward was organized in the fall of 1876 with 50
students in attendance. A post office was established Jan 02, 1877 and
the town of Ward grew to a population of 1,500 that year. Ward Post
Office continued in operation until Sep 07, 1887 when Ely became the
postal designation for it’s patrons.
The first know death in the Ward district was Charles H. Becker. Becker
was not well known in the Ward District. Ironically, on the day of his
death, Deputy Assessor Comins had ascertained his name, age and nativity
for census records or nothing would have been known.
- Donna Frederick
Becker, Charles H., d. 18 Aug 1875, Ref. White Pine News, 28
Aug 1875yr
Campton, Jennie, d. 25 Aug 1878, age: 29yr, Wife of Nathaniel
Luse,
Campton, Sadie, d. 11 Jul 1878, age: 22yr, Campton & Ragsdale
share a common marker with names inscribed around. Individual stones
with their initial's mark the graves
Gleeson, Martin, b. Native of Queens Co. Ireland, d. 28 Apr 1877
Mineral City, Nevada, age: 37yr, Requiescat in pace, Killed by John
Roche, Ref. Ward Semi-weekly Reflex - Apr 29, 1877yr
Liddle, (?)osep, b. 26 Nov 1839, d. 18 May 1886, age: 46 yrs,
5 mo. 22 days, 'Sleep father, sleep, Thy toils are over, Sweet be thy
rest so oft longed for before. We love thee, but God loved thee more,
He has called thee home to that happy shore
Ragsdale, John, no dates, age: 70yr
Ragsdale, Lucinda, d. 1885, age: 66yr
Sampson, A. Hiram, b. Niles Mich, d. Feb 1880, age: 29y, 12d,
'God is Love', Son of E.M. & M.A. Sampson
