Virginia City in Madison County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Assay Office
This Property Contributes to the Virginia City Historic District
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 5, 2022
1. Assay Office Marker
Inscription.
Assay Office. This Property Contributes to the Virginia City Historic District. Mining is filthy work, a fact that spelled opportunity for African American barber George Turley, who opened a “Fashionable Hair Dressing and Shaving Saloon” in a narrow building on this site. In 1864, Turley advertised bathrooms for miners interested in sprucing up before a night out. He also offered haircuts, shaves, shoe-shines, and “mustache and hair coloring.” Barbering was one of the few professions open to African American men after the Civil War, and barbers’ services were in high demand in Montana Territory, where approximately 27 percent of African Americans pursued the trade. By 1884, Turley had moved on, and a cobbler occupied the false-front building. By the 1940s, when Charles and Sue Bovey began to take an interest in the town, the building was in ruins. After clearing the rubble, the Boveys constructed this false-front frame building based on an 1870s photograph of the Gilbert Assay Office. The word “assay” comes from a French word meaning “to try or test.” Every gold rush town had at least one assay office, where miners could bring ore samples to test the richness of their claims.
Mining is filthy work, a fact that spelled opportunity for African American barber George Turley, who opened a “Fashionable Hair Dressing and Shaving Saloon” in a narrow building on this site. In 1864, Turley advertised bathrooms for miners interested in sprucing up before a night out. He also offered haircuts, shaves, shoe-shines, and “mustache and hair coloring.” Barbering was one of the few professions open to African American men after the Civil War, and barbers’ services were in high demand in Montana Territory, where approximately 27 percent of African Americans pursued the trade. By 1884, Turley had moved on, and a cobbler occupied the false-front building. By the 1940s, when Charles and Sue Bovey began to take an interest in the town, the building was in ruins. After clearing the rubble, the Boveys constructed this false-front frame building based on an 1870s photograph of the Gilbert Assay Office. The word “assay” comes from a French word meaning “to try or test.” Every gold rush town had at least one assay office, where miners could bring ore samples to test the richness of their claims.
Location. 45° 17.586′ N, 111° 56.816′ W. Marker is in Virginia City, Montana, in Madison County. It is on West Wallace Street near Jackson Street, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 310 West Wallace Street, Virginia City MT 59755, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southwest Montana, in Gold West Country, in Mining Country and in Greater Bozeman. It is also in the American Mountain West and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Content's Corner (here, next to
Credits. This page was last revised on October 27, 2022. It was originally submitted on October 27, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 253 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on October 27, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
