The Silver Terrace Cemeteries on the south side of Virginia City are among the most evocative historic sites in Nevada. A series of separate burial grounds — divided by religion, fraternal order, and ethnicity — spread across a barren hillside with sweeping views down the Comstock and across the desert. The gravestones tell the story of a city that burned hard and fast: many of the men here died young, in accidents, violence, or from the diseases that spread easily in overcrowded boomtowns.
The cemetery is open and free to walk through. The inscriptions are often eloquent and sometimes darkly funny — reflecting the frontier sensibility of people who knew they were living dangerously. The Chinese section has been partially restored after years of neglect. Allow an hour and bring sunscreen; the site is exposed and unshaded.