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  Photo courtesy: Bill Kuney

• 

  Photo courtesy: Bill Kuney

• 

  Photo courtesy: Bill Kuney

• 

  Photo courtesy: Bill Kuney

Nevada City and this portion of Gold West Country offers many opportunities to relive the adventure of gold rush days. Many of the towns were founded during that famous era and are rich with history and lore. Visit the surrounding towns to get a well-rounded vision of early pioneer life, and be sure to take in all of the local attractions. You can travel between the two mining camps on the Alder Gulch Short Line. At the end of the line, explore Nevada City and enjoy its living history reenactments.

Nevada City's Music Hall has perhaps the world's largest collection of band organs and music machines on public display, including possibly the biggest band organ in the world.

In 2001 the filming of the series Frontier House was done in Montana. Nevada City was used as a training site for the families going back in time to relive the frontier.

Virginia City and Nevada City was born with the discovery of gold in Alder Gulch in 1863. A boom town of the post-Civil War era, Virginia City served as the Montana Territorial Capital for 10 years, until the gold ran out. Just a mile away lies Nevada City, a western town created from a collection of buildings from other ghost towns. Both towns have been largely restored and preserved as they once stood living examples of the real Old West. The Montana Historical Society has certified 150 authentic buildings. Original buildings, dating from the Territorial days, are filled with merchandise and implements used when gold camps flourished in the West. Boardwalks, mechanical music machines, a penny arcade, antique automobiles and even a two-story outhouse add to the Old West atmosphere. The majestic Madison River Valley, just east of Nevada City, features some of the world's finest trout streams, as well as a beautiful mountain backdrop.

In Nevada City and Virginia City, shop, dine and sleep without leaving the atmosphere of the 1890s. You will find fascinating nuggets of history and memories to treasure. The restoration of these towns began decades ago, and the state of Montana purchased much of Virginia City and all of Nevada City so that the preservation can continue.