History
The Overland Hotel, as it exists now, was built in 1948. Prior to that it operated as a boarding house and bar on the same footprint as it is now. In the early 1900’s the property was owned by a Chinese family. (The Peis). The Overland also owns the property behind the building where the old miner’s rock house still sits. Take a walk back there and read the information board placed there. If you look up on the hill from there you can see a few rows of rocks here and there. These are the remaining foundations of a number of miner’s rock houses that were built there in the late 1800’s. The size of these rock homes demonstrates how much we Americans have grown! People were much shorter back in the day and lived in an area approximately 100 sq. feet.
In 1947 there was a terrible fire in Pioche. It started around the corner from The Overland, on Meadow Valley St., from a restaurant fire. About one-third of Pioche was lost in that fire and three people were killed. The Overland burned to the ground. If you go to the Million Dollar Courthouse, on the 2nd floor you can see a large picture of The Overland after the fire. The Hotel was rebuilt in 1948, exactly as you see it now. The exterior walls are poured concrete (18” thick) up to the 2nd floor, and then brick construction on the 2nd floor exterior walls. The entire exterior was covered with stucco. From the basement all the way to the ceiling of the 2nd floor are massive vertical beams that support the entire structure. You can see some of those beams in the Dance Hall. There is an 8,000 sq. foot cement basement that back in the 1950’s housed a ¾ size bowling alley and a roller-skating rink. They were closed and removed many years ago.
When the hotel was rebuilt in 1948 the entire side of the ground floor on the dance hall side was Pioche’s grocery store. On the 2nd floor the whole front of the building was built to house Pioche’s doctor’s offices, and the rest of the area was hotel rooms. The saloon was where it is now. The Doctor’s offices closed down in the 1950’s when the hospital which is still located around the corner was closed. During the 1948 reconstruction the massive solid cherry wood back bar, front bar and the room registration area which was an old bank teller’s cage were brought from Kimberly, Nevada to their new home in The Overland. Also, a coffee shop was built in the back area of the bar where the “office” is today. In 1976, Mr. Bill Brown purchased the Overland. The grocery store closed and he built a coffee shop where the gift shop is presently located, and made the “Dance Hall” as it is now. In 1996, Ron & Candice Mortenson bought The Overland from Mr. Brown. We have spent the past 22 years restoring it to its original glory. The first and second floors have solid oak plank flooring. We have restored it on the ground floor, and you can see it in the hallways upstairs. We have remodeled and redecorated all of the rooms; re-stuccoed the entire outside and made many upgrades to the property. It has been a labor of love for us.
We hope you enjoy your visit to the Historic Overland Hotel !!
Download a copy of The History of The Overland Hotel & Saloon