Carson City
Carson City, Carson City, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Carson City. Nevada's State Capital, one of the state's oldest communities, was established in 1851 as Eagle Station, a trading post and ranch on the Carson Branch of the California Immigrant Trail, by Frank and Warren L. Hall, George Follansbee, Joe and Frank Barnard and A. J. Rollins. The station and surrounding valley took their name from an easgle skin stretched on the wall of the trading post. In 1858, Abraham Curry purchased much of the Eagle Ranch after finding that lots in Genoa were too expensive. Together with his friends, Jon Musser, Frank Proctor and Ben Green, Curry platted a town he called Carson City. Curry left a plaza in the center of the planned community for a capitol building should a territorial state seat of government eventually be located in his town. In March 1861, Congress created the Nevada Territory. Seven months later in November, Carson City became the capital of the territory due to the efforts of Curry and William M. Stewart, a prominent lawyer. When Nevada became a state three years later, Carson City was selected as the state capital, and by 1871, the present capitol building was completed in the plaza Curry had reserved for it.
Erected by Carson City Historic Commission
The Story
Carson City grew from Eagle Station, a trading post and ranch established in 1851 on a branch of the California Trail and named for an eagle skin nailed to its wall. In 1858 Abraham Curry, finding Genoa's lots too dear, bought much of the Eagle Ranch and platted a town — deliberately reserving a central plaza for a future capitol. His foresight paid off: Carson City became the territorial capital in 1861 and the state capital when Nevada joined the Union in 1864.
Why it matters
One man's speculative gamble on an empty plaza produced a state capital, a vivid example of how the Comstock boom conjured Nevada's civic institutions almost overnight.
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Related people
- · Abraham Curry
- · William M. Stewart
Related events
- · Creation of Nevada Territory, 1861
- · Nevada statehood, 1864
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Nevada's Capitol
Carson City, NV
Completed in 1871, Nevada's Victorian-era Capitol was raised from sandstone quarried by Carson City's founder, Abe Curry. An octagonal annex followed in 1907 and the north and south wings in 1915. Its elegant interior boasts Alaskan marble walls and French crystal windows, a statehouse built to befit a young silver state.
Wellington's Station
Carson City, NV
In 1860, as the Aurora mining boom drew traffic through western Nevada, Jack Wright and Leonard Hamilton bridged the West Walker River and opened a stage station where wagons were repaired and horses shod. When Daniel Wellington bought them out in 1863, the crossroads became "Wellington's Station," and in 1875 wagonmaster Zadok Pierce built the nearby Wellington Hotel, which over the decades doubled as livery, freight depot, store, and post office.
Methodist Church of Carson City
Carson City, NV
Dedicated in 1867, the Methodist Church of Carson City serves a congregation that traces its roots to 1859, the dawn of Nevada settlement. Like many of the capital's early buildings, it was raised from stone quarried at the nearby State Prison, with much of the original construction guided by Reverend Warren Nims. Though altered over the decades, its octagonal porch posts and pointed-arch windows make it one of Nevada's oldest surviving religious structures.
Stewart-Nye Residence
Carson City, NV
Built about 1860 of local sandstone, this house was the home of William Morris Stewart until 1862, when he sold it to James W. Nye, the territorial governor. After Nevada achieved statehood in 1864, the two men were elected its first United States senators—Stewart serving into the twentieth century and Nye through 1873—both of them New York natives. The house later belonged to state Supreme Court Chief Justice George F. Talbot before becoming a Catholic rectory in 1917.