Writers’ Wednesday – Goldfield Century

Writers’ Wednesday

April 12 , 2023
5:00 – 5:30 pm – Book signing and wine/cheese Reception
5:30 – 6:30 pm – Lecture

This month’s book is called “Goldfield Century: Nevada Boomtown” with author Stephen H. Provost who will discuss his book. Dragon Crown Books/Century Cities Publishing.

Summary of Talk
You may not have heard of it, but for a brief period of time in the early 20th century, Goldfield had it all. More people lived there than anywhere else in Nevada, and second-place Reno wasn’t even close. It had dozens of saloons, gunfights, union lockouts, and of course, gold strikes. The state’s richest man lived there, and so did the man who would become Jack Dempsey’s promoter. In 1906, Tex Ricard brought the longest championship fight of the century to Goldfield. And that’s just the beginning.

Goldfield was at the center of Nevada’s last big mining boom, one that rivaled the Comstock and Virginia City. Tonopah, just to the north, struck it rich with silver. And more gold was found in the Bullfrog District to the south, where Rhyolite boomed to become the state’s fourth-largest city. It’s a ghost town now, but at one time, it hailed as the budding “Chicago of the West.” Its newspaper was edited by Earle Clemens, a nephew of Samuel (aka Mark Twain).

Century Cities was created to celebrate and preserve the history of midsized and smaller American cities during the 20th century. Each book is presented in timeline form, drawing on major events and lesser-known stories — some amusing and others amazing — of them from 1900 to 1999. Goldfield Century focuses on the boom years of the first decade, then chronicles what happened in the bust that inevitably followed.

From athletic champions to retail milestones, from city leaders to entertainers, this series provides a panoramic overview of vibrant, growing cities as they came into their own.

Authors Bio
A former editor, reporter and columnist with more than 30 years of experience at daily newspapers, Stephen H. Provost is the author of more than 30 books.
His works of historical nonfiction include A Whole Different League, The Legend of Molly Bolin, Fresno Growing Up, The Great American Shopping Experience (forthcoming), a three-book series on America’s Historic Highways, his Century Cities series, and histories of Highway 99 and Highway 101 in California.

The Writers’ Wednesday Lecture Series, held the second Wednesday of each month, features a different author who takes part in a book signing, a presentation and a question-and-answer session with the audience. A wine and cheese reception precedes the lecture.

The intent of the program is to highlight writers who specifically focus on Nevada, the Great Basin, or the West in general. The authors talk about the content of their books but also share details about the creative process.

Make sure to arrive early as we have limited seating available in our Event Space. Don’t forget, we provide free, temporary parking permits to make it easier to visit NHS!