I just discovered this excellent collection of Comstock Lode photographs shot by legendary landscape photographer Carlton Watkins in 1878.
Watkins is most famous as the first person to photograph Yosemite—Mt. Watkins, which rises across Tenaya Canyon from Half Dome, is named for him. Watkins visited Virginia City and Gold Hill in 1878, at the height of the Comstock Lode’s bonanza times, and made this collection of photographs. (Click on the image below to see the album posted on archive.org by the Society of California Pioneers. You’ll have to make a fair number of fast clicks to get to the good stuff, but it’s worth the effort.)
