Silver Terrace Cemeteries, Virginia City

The Silver Terrace Cemetery in Virginia City is a cool older cemetery with quite a few pre-1900 unique headstones. Likely will spend 20-30 minutes here walking around the cemetery reading a few of the headstones. There are some cool and custom headstones and some great views of Virginia City as well.

AMAZING!! So interesting to see al the history, old graves, old headstones, things made out of wood bleaching in the sun & snow. Fascinating and definite place to visit when in Virginia City.

I'm one who stops on a cemetery every city i visit. While its really unfair to compare to the much older cemetaries on the east coast, this one still held some unique charm. It isn't very big, probably able to haphazardly peruse and walk through in 30 minures. Uneven and gravel filled terrain with no delineated plots. There's an 1.5 hour audio tour that can be downloaded through the app store and a brochure outside the gate. I wished all cemetaries were as informative.

Dry, dusty and visible from much of Virginia City, the Silver Terrace Cemeteries are the final resting place for many of the city's movers and shakers, knowns and unknowns. Many of the dates on the stones are quite close together - Living in the west in the 1800s did not contribute to extended life expectancies. The majority of people buried here were miners in the Comstock Lode and their family members. Headstones date back to the 1880s. There are technically eleven cemeteries here that were established by Catholics, Masons and other religious* and fraternal groups. Over time, they've sort of merged and are now known as the Silver Terrace Cemeteries. Back in the day, it was once described as the "loveliest burial grounds in the State of Nevada" but times have changed and decay has been rampant. The ground is extremely uneven. It's sandy, rocky and not level. There is a lot of overgrowth and broken cement. There are paths to walk along but you need to be on the lookout for wildlife. I would not recommend open toed shoes and consider boots if possible. It is not handicapped accessible.

I felt goosebumps while exploring this place. The stench of the dead wafts in the air. It’s one of the most beautiful cemetery I visited mostly families of miners were buried here according to their religion. Most tombstones dated back in the 18th century.