Then and now: Virginia City keeps its charm

Bucket of Blood in 1951. Photos/Bill Kingman

Bucket of Blood 2001

Bucket of Blood 2014

Virginia City was barely 90 years old when I snapped these black and white photos in 1951.

Today, more 60 years later, many of those landmarks remain. The classic Bucket of Blood saloon has moved its wall sign up to the second story, and the horse-drawn “Dead Wagon” glass-windowed local hearse is no longer parked just to the right of the picket fence.

Virginia City 2014

Virginia City 1951

According to Wikipedia, at the peak of its silver mining activity in the 1860s, Virginia City had an estimated 25,000 residents. One hundred fifty years later, the 2010 Census reported 855 residents.

— Bill Kingman