Apparently the hotel began as “The Riesen House” and was Constructed sometime before January 1862.  Current popular Notion is that it dates from 1859 but the exact date is uncertain." In the winter of 1861/1862 there were big floods all over northern California and Nevada.  Melting snow and unprecedented  rains  filled all the ravines and canyons with torrents of water.
“On 27 Jan. 1862 the Alta California quoted an article from the Territorial Enterprise of 13 Jan. 1862  “.. the southwest and southeast corners of the Risen (sic) House, a fine structure, have fallen, but the main part of the building remained firm . “I am positive  the photo is an 1862 photo showing workmen repairing the south side of the Riesen House and not a photo of the structure being built. The photo is a Lawrence and Houseworth Co. production and is dated 1862.
               Maitland Stanley, Gold Hill Historian 7/5/97

 H. M. Vesey acquired the hotel early in the 1860’s and added the wooden structure to the original stone building.  The hotel became an important part of the now thriving metropolis of Gold Hill which was adjacent to the even larger industrial and business center known as Virginia .  The combined population of the two towns was approaching 40,000 people and was one of the largest cities in the West, with schools, opera houses, newspapers, trains, factories, churches and all the trappings, fire departments, police forces, etc. all of this in addition to the major mining operations which were producing large amounts of silver and gold.  The mining boom continued through the 70’s but after that it was boom and bust and the population dwindled to only a few hundred by the 1930’s

     The population that had built a major town with  considerable infrastructure of houses, commercial buildings roads, factories and a network of existence were faced with complete ruin….no means for income,  and given the normal expenses associated with supporting family and possessions, they abandoned property, or dismantled it and sold the materials, and  they drifted away for other areas to seek a means to survive.  The population that was left scrounged the ruins and further devastated the area.  What had been the pride of the west became an eyesore or just dust and ruins.  Sic transit Gloria. 

     Fortunately  for us enough remains so that one can envision the glory of  the better times and current day Virginia City and Gold Hill are fascinating to the tourists who come to absorb the history of  the Comstock Lode.

     The photo on the right dates from the mid 1860s.  The the building on the left disappeared sometime in the 1890s  the right hand building survived and  is included as part of the current Gold Hill Hotel.

The Gold Hill Hotel is a direct descendant of the Vesey Hotel 
Pictured here around the mid 1860s.