White Pine Public Museum & McGill Historic Drug Store

08/24/2026

BILL BERGEN 1909

On August 23, 1909, catcher Bill Bergen of the Brooklyn Superbas executed a historic defensive performance by throwing out six St. Louis Cardinals attempting to steal bases in a single game. His unparalleled throwing accuracy set a major league record for catchers that remains completely unshakeable more than a century later.

Bergen’s spectacular showcase on August 23rd was a magnificent display of defensive generalship that stood out as a premier milestone during the Deadball Era of professional baseball. Operating during a period when offensive strategy relied almost exclusively on aggressive base-running, small-ball tactics, and the constant threat of the stolen base, a catcher’s physical arm strength was a team’s primary structural shield against low-scoring defeats. Bergen completely neutralized the Cardinals’ running game, utilizing a lightning-fast release and surgical precision to repeatedly catch the league’s swiftest runners mid-sprint.

While Bergen’s career batting average remains one of the lowest in baseball history, his extraordinary defensive metrics and physical command behind the plate made him an indispensable asset to his managers. His historic six-out performance turned a routine late-summer matchup into a masterclass in athletic discipline, proving that a player could thoroughly dominate a game through defensive excellence alone. The performance stands as an enduring standard of positional mastery, illustrating how one transcendent defensive specialist could rewrite the strategic playbook of a sport.

08/14/2026

Most Nevada towns died where they stood. This one kept getting picked up and set down somewhere else, because the company needed the ground it was sitting on. ⛏️

Ruth started forming in 1903 on the edge of the copper workings in White Pine County. At first the ore came out through underground tunnels, which took very little surface. That changed after 1907, when steam shovels arrived and the cheaper way to get copper became stripping the ground off the top of it. Digging on the Liberty Pit began in 1908. When the work started there was no pit there at all, just two low hills.

Those hills came out by the trainload. The Liberty Pit grew to about a mile long, five eighths of a mile wide and more than five hundred feet deep, and for a while it was called the largest man made hole in the world. Fourteen miles of railroad track ran in concentric loops down inside it to haul out ore and waste rock. By the middle of the 1950s at least one hundred twenty five million tons of ore had come out of that one hole. 🏚️

Ruth had already been shifted more than once by then. In the late 1950s Kennecott took control of nearly every mine in the district and pushed the Liberty Pit outward again, and this time it took the whole townsite. A handful of buildings were hauled off to a new location. Most of the rest was bulldozed. The ground where the old town stood is now part of the pit.

People still live in Ruth. It is just not standing anywhere near where it was built.

Image is an illustration, not a historical photograph.

08/07/2026

A view of some the slides in our collection from the late 50s to early 60s.

08/01/2026

This photo from the Jay Steed collection depicts a forgotten step in newspaper and printing history. Taken in the mid 50s at the Ely Daily Times printing office, a man can be seen operating a Linotype. Invented in 1886, the Linotype used molten metal and a bafflingly complex mechanism to cast type slugs to be used in printing plates. Pages-worth of type could be made line by line, hence the name.(Line of type) This process replaced manual typesetting and ensured you never ran out of letters(as they are made on demand). Thomas Edison once called the machine "The eighth wonder of the world" The Times used this machine from 1920 until it was replaced with an offset lithograph press in 1964. Like and comment if you want to see more history like this, share memories, or if you know the identity of the operator! Consider making a donation or becoming a member to help keep our history alive!

07/30/2026

07/30/2026

Mystery film found! This 16mm film has no label but appears to depict Ely in the late 60s or early 70s. We currently can't recover the sound as it is a magnetic strip that requires a special projector rather than the conventional optical track. If anyone has any information on this film let us know in the comments! If you want to see more "lost" media like this, follow our page, and consider becoming a member! Memberships and donations help us preserve and make things like this available for generations to come!

07/27/2026

On July 27, 1917, the American Red Cross Headquarters in New York City became a bustling hub of support as U.S. soldiers—affectionately dubbed “Sammies” after Uncle Sam—received specialized comfort kits. With the United States having entered World War I just months prior, these kits were designed to provide a crucial morale boost to young men heading to the trenches of Europe.

Each canvas bag contained essential everyday items like sewing needles, thread, socks, razor blades, ci******es, and handwritten letters from volunteers. This massive mobilization of civilian aid underscored the vital domestic role the Red Cross played in keeping troops comforted and connected to home.

07/08/2026

For the first time in over 100 years, the 1876 Hamilton Centennial Cannon made the journey home to fire again on July 4, 2026. The old cannon thundered with a mighty crack that nobody expected. The shot echoed across mountains that hadn't heard that sound in a century. For me the sound not only echoed across Hamilton, but across time. For a brief moment there was a connection to the past like no other. Forged and built in Eberhardt for America's 100th birthday, this one-of-a-kind artifact represents not only the country's 250 year milestone, but the enduring spirit of White Pine county and the American west . This newly restored piece of unique history is on display at the museum. Come by to see it in person! Many thanks to everyone who helped make this possible!