East Fork Hotel

1441 Hwy 395, Gardnerville, NV

Constructed in 1893.

The East Fork Hotel was one of Gardnerville's first commercial buildings. It was built by the Brown brothers, George and Charley, who also ran a brickyard that provided many of the bricks for the growing town.

The back of the building. On the right side is the part that was damaged by fire in 1986.

The East Fork was a haven for Basque sheepherders, who would come in from the fields for a warm bed and a hot meal. In 1921 it was bought by the Borda family and operated as a hotel until 1981 when Gorgonia Borda died. The Borda family decided to close the hotel portion at that time, but they kept open the bar at the north end of the building.

The front door, locked for 25 years. You can barely still see "ROOMS" painted on the glass.

The bar (named the East Fork Club) only survived another five years. On July 24, 1986, it was consumed by a fire that almost took the whole building with it. Firefighters were able to keep the blaze contained to the bar area, saving the hotel but leaving a charred ruin at its north side.

A peek inside the front entrance. Believe it or not, that calendar on the wall is permanently set to July 1981.

The remains of the bar were bulldozed over and fenced off, and the blackened wall of the hotel was rebuilt. But since that day, twenty years ago, the property has remained closed. Right now the building awaits its ultimate fate: will it be bought and restored, or will another fire one day finish the job that was started two decades ago?

In 2004 a bronze plaque was placed outside as part of the Gardnerville Historic Walking Tour.