Mining begin in Rockland at 8'500 in the Pine Grove Hills in 1868 two years after gold was discovered in a sister town known as Pine Grove in 1866. Generally when miners had exhausted the mines and high grade gold ore became scarce it led to many of the prospectors trying a hand at mining up in Rockland and Nye Canyon. An example of this occurring would be when a Pine Grove resident known as Mr. Keene found a rich mineral vein in 1869 about four miles from his home where he built a mill.  More then often mine owners had to build mills near the mines in order to process the ore coming out of it.

The town that sprung up due to this discovery was called Rockland probably named after the rock cliffs which surrounded it. If you really take the time to look over our photos you will notice that their are no shortage of rocks found in this little boom town that once existed. So one can see how such a name would derive from the geology which surrounds this location at over 8,500' above sea level. This is a very treacherous road to get to Rockland it does require 4wd its very narrow at times following ravines other times going up over a waterfall which in the Spring runs down parts of the road.

The old stage route to Rockland is via Nye Canyon unfortunately my first expedition we hit deep snow, brush growing densely on the road and a huge mound of earth. However, Rockland Canyon is rugged but if our viewers ever want to see this town this is a much newer route as long as you take it in good weather because in a storm the entire road flash floods and on my second expedition we narrowly escaped. We want to bring great content to our viewers and fellow ghost towners but we also want them to know what is involved in journeying to a remote ghost town such as this. You can only imagine what the first pioneers of this boom town had to endure just to traverse the steep route through the canyon to get here. 

I would say the town peeked out around 1870 with a population ranging from about 150 to 350 residents. At the time it had several stores, saloons, post office, stage stop and even an express office. For a short time it even had its own newspaper called the Pine Grove & Rockland Star. But the town had allot of problems their was lawlessness more so then other boom towns in the region. It might have been due to its remoteness therefore drunken brawls were a regular ongoing happening here. I remember reading a story about a disgruntled miner burning down the original mill which really caused the town to decline. I guess Mr. Keene who founded the town was not paying his miners on time and they were getting restless. The man that was caught for arson was sentenced in Carson City for his crime When the mill burned down mining ceased it also did not help that the post office shut down in 1872. Since that time the town stood abandoned strangely Rockland would become a ghost town not once but twice as a second revival would occur in the early 1900's which three more mills would be built.

When the second boom occurred the post office was once again opened as a matter in fact it remained a small town through even WWI. But the post office closed once again in June of 1909 so the town struggled to stay on its feet. The area was closed off around 1934 when it permanently became a ghost town again. Today their is some mining still done up here but they are very small operations. Really the gold has never left the canyon its just such a rugged remote area that it is hard to get anything going here. However, in a fifty year period at least 1 million dollars in gold and silver was pulled out of the mines found here. Gold was primary while Silver was secondary but both could be found in the Rockland and Pine Grove Mines. When the post office closed many of the locals had gotten there mail nearby at the Cambridge Post Office which was a small mining camp below the Pine Grove Hills. 

Some people consider Rockland to be a small suburb of Pine Grove which was a gold mining camp about six miles away. Gold was discovered here in 1866 and the town had grown to about 300 people at this time. By the 1880's it had three mills shipping 10k in gold bullion a week and eventually the town boomed to over a 1000 residents. Allot of the people who lived and worked in Pine Grove made regular trips to Rockland also. Some mined at both camps depending on where work was available. I read that the Wilson Mine produced 5 million dollars in bullion and the Wheeler Mine 3 million dollars in the 1890's. I believe that when the main strike was over in the early 1900's many of the miners probably tried a hand at Rockland or at least one last attempt.  In Rockland the first state and freight road into the town was a spur that branched off the old Wellington-Pine Grove Wagon Road over the Lodbell and Pine Grove Summit heading east which was built in 1904. However, back in the day pioneers traversed through NYE canyon which is heavily forested, snowy certain times of year and is overshadowed by the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Therefore by the end of the boom you really only had two routes into Rockland and both were rather rugged. 

Today not much remains of Rockland but a few stone walls, wood tailings, some of the mine tunnels which are often flooded, piles of wood, TNT canisters, ore bins, remnants of the mill and a few pieces of sheet metal. But if your looking to explore some history with a view this truly is a very gorgeous place and I spent a few years putting together this project so that our viewers could really experience a true ghost town at the top of the Pine Grove Mountains with great views of Bald Mountain which stands at over 9,500'. If you have time you could technically also explore Pine Grove nearby which is a great ghost town as well. Pine Grove is very accessible as opposed to Rockland not the other way around as some sites suggest. By climbing the hills around town one can get a feel for what life was like here besides the fact the locals had to endure mountain lions, black bear and the intense storms that pour over the sierras slamming the Pine Grove Hills.

Copyright By
Lord Rick aka AngelOfThyNight
PGS Founder
Author, Talk Show Host, Producer and Paranormal Investigator

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