Roughin' it

Mark Twain spent a few years in Nevada and California prospecting, adventuring, and writing some for the Enterprise to pay for the others. Virginia City was home base for much of that period and his stories as compiled in Roughin It are some of his best in my opinion, literature I can visualize that even causes me to laugh aloud.
The rest of the old mining town was pretty touristy saloons, casinos, and kitsch. But definitely a historic setting, especially with tailings and active mines visible everywhere.