Kingston Nevada is (well was) located in the Toiyabe Range of mountains, about 25 miles south of Austin. It experienced a short lived gold and silver boom which lasted from 1863 to 1864. It subsequently was abandoned as miners moved on in search of better diggin's. It revived in the mid 1880's and again, fizzled after a few years. One last small gasp for Kingston occurred between 1906 - 1911 as new milling techniques allowed previously low grade ore to be worked at a small profit.
Cornish miners (immigrants from Cornwall England) nicknamed Cousin
Jacks, were employed in large numbers in Kingston during the boom years. They were accustomed to the term "Tavern"
instead of saloon. This stained glass sign originally hung over the entry to
the saloon. It is actually a transom window, which was horizontally hinged to
allow heat, and tobacco smoke to escape the interior (actually a rudimentary
form of air conditioning).
It was purchased from the descendants of the owner of the
Kingston Nevada saloon, back in the 1970's. Based on the style I'd date it to the
era of the second "boom", ca. mid to late 1880's.
