Jessup

Jessup is a ghost town in Churchill County, Nevada, tucked a few miles north of Interstate 80 between Fernley and Lovelock. It briefly went by the name White Canyon and came to life in 1908 following the staking of gold and silver mine claims in the area. At its height the town drew around 300 residents and functioned as a genuine community, complete with grocery stores and a post office. Southern Pacific made the place accessible to prospectors by adding a stop there, and at least eight mines once operated in the surrounding terrain.

Today Jessup stands as a quiet remnant of a short-lived Nevada boom. Visitors drawn to ghost towns will find a remote high-desert setting and the scattered evidence of a community that largely vanished once the mines went quiet. Access via Interstate 80 keeps the area reasonably reachable, though the roads north of the highway are typical of rural Nevada. Spring and fall offer the most comfortable conditions for exploring; summer heat can be intense, and winter travel on unpaved roads carries real risk.