<Tr> <Th> GNIS feature ID </Th> <Td> 0856420 </Td> </Tr> <P> Virginia City is a census - designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada . It is part of the Reno--Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area . </P> <P> Virginia City sprang up as a boomtown with the 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode, the first major silver deposit discovery in the United States, with numerous mines opening . At the city's peak of population in the mid-1870s, it had an estimated 25,000 residents . The mines' output declined after 1878, and the city itself declined as a result . As of the 2010 Census the population of Virginia City was about 855, and that of Storey County 4,000 . </P> <P> Peter O'Riley and Patrick McLaughlin are credited with the discovery of the Comstock Lode . Henry T.P. Comstock's name was associated with the discovery through his own machinations . According to folklore, James Fennimore, nicknamed Old Virginny Finney, christened the town when he tripped and broke a bottle of whiskey at a saloon entrance in the northern section of Gold Hill, soon to become Virginia City . </P>

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