Liddle, Samuel

Samuel Liddle owned and operated a general store in Leadville, Nevada during 1887. Born in England around 1841, Samuel traveled to the western United States to reach mining areas where his occupation as a mining engineer and machinist kept him employed.

Samuel left San Francisco around 1868 to capitalize on the boomtown of Hamilton, Nevada. Hamilton was located in the mountainous White Pine County of Northern Nevada. The residents began to extract silver ore in 1867, and miners and prospectors came to the area expecting immediate success. However, during the late 1870s the ore proved inadequate for processing, and Hamilton's economic potential declined with many residents leaving for better prospects.

An 1885 fire seemed to seal the town's demise, but in 1886 lead-silver ore was discovered a short six miles away from the original mine. On January 29, 1887, the White Pine News reported that two men, Sam Liddle and Professor Price, named the new mining site, "Leadville...[for a] promising new mining district" on the west side of the White Pine Mountains. The two men also created a townsite nearby, and Liddle moved his family there in July of 1887. Travel between Hamilton and Leadville became increasingly heavy and the new boomtown soon acquired a boarding house, saloon, and assay office.

In September 1887, Samuel Liddle opened Liddle's General Store. He continued to operate the store through the town's economic boom. Like Hamilton before it, Leadville’s financial growth was temporary, and along with its post office, much of the town closed in 1891.

Samuel Liddle died on July 5, 1889 in San Francisco, California.