The Southern Pacific established Mina in 1905 to serve as the terminus of its Hazen branch. The town gained its small share of prosperity as the junction for the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad, and a Southern Pacific narrow-gauge line to California. Never a large town, Mina began losing population in the 1920s and 1930s as local mining ventures declined. The Southern Pacific kept the line to Mina open until about 1990. Today most of Mina's railroad buildings are gone. The town itself straddles U.S. 95, with the residential area located on the opposite side of the highway from the old railroad grade.