Check out this story from the Modesto Bee about the former Hershey location in Oakdale:
http://www.modbee.com/2133/story/261003.html
Another chocolate company, Sconza Candy is expanding it's operations and will move from Oakland to Oakdale this year to the former Hershey location. And they do have plans for a retail store in Oakdale, hopefully to open in 2009.
Nevada is a place that has far more to it than the casinos.
And yes, Virginia City is more than a bit "touristy". But the history is there and worth taking in. If you want a mining community that is somewhat a museum, Columbia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia%2C_CA in California's Mother Lode area in Tuolumne County is a state park. While it has some tourist shops, it is better preserved that Virginia City.
Virginia City has seen a tough life as a boomtown through bonanza and borrasca (or bust). At it's peak, it was the City between Chicago and San Francisco, with over 30,000 residents - today it has about 1,000. It had the first elevator between thos cities as well. Yet much of the city was destroyed by a series of fires and only somewhat rebuilt. When Silver mining played out, much of structures of the city were already gone or in serious decline. So, what you see today is either the remains of the town or recreations.
As someone who has had family in the Silver State for over 150 years, I'm naturally attracted to the Comstock. Oddly enough I don't know of any of them who lived and worked in or around the mines or anywhere in the area during it's bonanza days. Yet I have spent a fair amount of time around Northern Nevada.
In Virginia City, places I would recommend include Pipers Opera House
http://www.pipersoperahouse.com/ (pretty much as it was), the Fourth Ward School
http://www.fourthwardschool.org/ic/, the Chollar Mine
http://www.chollarmine.com/ (a great way to see a Comstock mine, safely) and the Virginia and Truckee Railroad
http://virginiatruckee.com/. The V&T is a nice ride over the original railroad right of way and has great views of the area.
The main street in Virginia City is indeed one set to separate tourists from their money. But some places can be fun. Just don't take it too seriously.
Carson City is home to the State Museum
http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/museums/cc/carson.htm in the former US Mint and the Nevada State Railroad Museum
http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/museums/rr/ccrr.htm. Both are worth a visit for real history of the Silver State.