Tag: history

Sam Broyles posted this photograph, one of the Carson City classics that you see all over the place. It shows a group of people clustered around the train tracks on Washington Street, waiting at the depot for an arriving train. In the background you can see the Safeway that used to sit where the City Center Motel is now, and on the site of the Washington Street Station is a curio shop. Sam wondered in his caption why all the people were waiting for the train. It looks like quite a party, Sam noted, with the presence of a photographer and a brass band. He guessed that it was a War Bonds rally, with wartime celebrities arriving by train to drum up business for war bonds. Sam's close, but he's off by a few years. It is related to the War, though, in a roundabout way. The date is February 23, 1949, and this celebration actually marks the arrival in Carson City of the Merci Boxcar, on the last leg of its trip from France.

The Merci Boxcars were part of the French Gratitude Train, an endeavor by the people of France to say thank you to the United States, both for our accomplishments during WWII and our postwar relief efforts of that battered country. 49 of these boxcars were sent around the French countryside, one for each state plus Washington DC, and at each village they made a stop to be filled up with gifts by the citizens of France. Toys, jewelry, paintings, and thank-you letters were stuffed into these cars, collected from all over France, and then the whole train was shipped across the Atlantic so the boxcars could be distributed to their respective state capitals. The crowd here is gathered to see the Nevada boxcar be pulled into town by V&T Engine #26. Another, more obscure photo shows the same scene minutes later, after the train has arrived and the crowd swarmed the tracks.

The Merci Boxcar is visible, mounted on the third car back behind the engine. Today the boxcar has been restored and is on display at the Nevada State Railroad Museum.

I found a few good pictures of Old Downtown Reno on Flickr the other day:

The old mural at Harold's Club. There's a closer view of it here.

The Mapes sign. The Mapes closed in 1982 but wasn't demolished until 2000.

The Nevada Club entrance, soon before it was torn down.

The Nevada Club in its neon heyday.

It looks like the Record Courier in Gardnerville is planning on publishing a big coffee table book of historic pictures of Douglas County and the Carson Valley. They published one seven years ago, and the Carson Valley Historic Photo Album they created in 2000 turned out to be a pretty awesome book. I'd say you need to get down to the Douglas County Library and check it out to look for yourself.

This new book sounds like they're going to focus on more recent photos, mostly ones from the 40s, 50s and 60s. From what I can tell they're still gathering photos, so there's no release date for the book yet, but they are taking pre-orders at a reduced price. The announcement and order form are here (in PDF form).

They're also putting out a call for Valley residents to come forward with pictures they think would be good for the book. And to that end they're holding three public scanning sessions next week, where you can bring your photos to them, and they'll zip them through a scanner in seconds. They don't guarantee that the pictures will make the book, but there are sure to be some gems that turn up this way.

The scanning sessions are listed here (also in PDF).

Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Carson Valley Museum
1477 U.S. Highway 395 N
Gardnerville, NV (775)782-2555

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Genoa Courthouse Museum
2304 Main Street
Genoa, NV (775)782-4325

Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Carson Valley Museum
1477 U.S. Highway 395 N
Gardnerville, NV (775)782-2555

A few thoughts about this project:

* I love it, and I'm probably pre-ordering a copy
* I think they should put up a website with all the photos, even the ones that didn't make it into the book. Especially the ones the public brings in.
* I'm jealous and I want all these pictures for my own online history photo gallery that I'm building.
* The name of the book, Looking Back, is the same name I picked for my own online history photo gallery, which is still in development. Looks like I might have to change it.

There's an article up at washoevalley.org about the early history of Washoe Valley. But it's not just a regular article, it's actually a reprint of an article that was written back in 1952. And the 1952 article quotes heavily from the Nevada State Journal from 1878. And it's all looking back at the way the Valley was in the 1860s, before the V&T Railroad was built, when the Jumbo Grade was the best way to get ore down from Virginia City to be processed at the mills. Back then the Washoe Valley was one of the busiest places in the state of Nevada.

From the toll station, the Valley in the 1860's appeared to be one long strip of industry. The great white-stone Ophir dominated the end of the causeway, and Dall's Mill at Franktown sent forth columns of smoke from its "Barrel process" roasters. In and around Washoe City were eight more big quartz mills; the Atchison, the Manhattan, the New York, the North, the Buckeye, the Tomolee, the Napa and the Alfred. Still another, at the south end of the Valley, gave Mill City its name. The sawmills dotted the slopes on the west side of the Valley. The town swarmed over the flat, each one trying to out-do its neighbors in outward signs of prosperity, population and noise.

By the 1870s the mills had moved to the Carson River near Mound House, since the railroad could bring the ore there faster than a wagon could bring it to Washoe Valley. So the Valley settled into what it is today, a quiet place to settle down and relax for some, a speed bump on the way to somewhere else for others.

Read the whole article.

More good stuff from No Safe Place, this time a compendium of aerial views of downtown Carson City.

I want to point to this post by No Safe Place, and this photo, taken from "C" Hill before there was a "C" - sometime in the 1870s.

Carson City looked so tiny back then, and there were so few trees that the big buildings had no problem sticking out. From the left, you can easily see the US Mint, the Central School, the First Methodist Church, and the Capitol Building. The rest of the valley is just kind of a sagebrush wasteland fading off into the hazy mountains.

If you want to see what the view looks like today, you've got to click on the link.

After grabbing dozens, or hundreds, of old pictures of Carson City off the internet, I finally spent a couple of dollars on eBay to buy one that I could actually hold. I got this postcard of downtown Carson City just last week.

Looking at the cars, this has to be in the 50s. Or 60s. Or 40s. I have no skill at identifying classic cars. But, as always, my eye goes to the buildings when I'm looking at pictures like this. On the far left is the Silver Spur casino, which became the Lucky Spur and then closed for 25 years. It reopened as Stew's Sportatorium, but now it's closed again for remodeling/retheming/whatever.

On the far right is the Pine Cone Cafe, on the corner where CaiE's Oriental Cafe now sits. This picture shows the old curved window the Pine Cone used to have. Some years after this the window was bricked over, and remained that way until just last year when work on CaiE's started. But the window was rebuilt to be square. I wish they would have made it curved, just as a nod to history.

And look at the fine print on the Pine Cone sign: "Not Recommended by Duncan Hines." That's a joke that wouldn't play today.

In the back you can see the other downtown buildings, but the angle is too steep to make them out very well. The "Cash Mercantile" is on the right, and on the left you can see (very fuzzy) the sign for the Old Globe, when it used to be on Carson Street, and behind that the brick facade of the Arlington Hotel that was torn down in the 1960s.

The one thing that's really visible in the distance is the sign for the Nugget, back when it was just a little tiny gambling hall and not the sprawling behemoth it is today. And of course you can see that Carson Street is only two lanes, with angle parking on either curb. Supposedly we're going back to this after the new freeway is completed, but I think there will still be more traffic than there was back then.

And now the problem I have: now that I've scanned in this picture and put it online, what do I do with the postcard itself? Seems like it's just taking up space now. Maybe I could sell it on eBay...

No Safe Place is at it again with his Old Nevada series. This latest one is just a cool as always.

This is looking north from the roof of the St. Charles Hotel, up Carson Street towards the Capitol. You can see it used to be called the "Pony Hotel" back then, and the bar at the corner, soon to be home to the Firkin and Fox, was called the Mite As Well. All those buildings across the street have long since been demolished to build the Capitol Plaza, and planters and left turn lanes have been put down the middle of the street.

Read the whole article. There are even more pictures over there.

Excerpts from;
“With Curry’s Compliments: The story of Abraham Curry”
By Doris Cerveri 1990

Roots of Carson City and Downieville

With years of experience as a successful businessman, however, Curry was wise enough to realize that a mining community did not offer financial security, no matter how lively it seemed. Although he had had no mining experience, it is possible that he felt the same excitement and anticipation that hundreds of other individuals did, and was fascinated by the thought of getting rich quick. He was able, though, to observe first hand the disappointment and disillusionment of many men when a mine produced only surface gold or silver and subsequently became barren. People moved away from Red Dog after the mines were exhausted and nearly all the buildings, including the Odd Fellows Hall, were moved to nearby You Bet, which boomed by 1860. Three years later, You Bet and Red Dog were consolidated.

During Curry's stay in Red Dog he operated a ten-pin bowling alley and, on March 24, 1856, organized the first tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men in California. Meetings of the Red Men were held in the hayloft of a livery stable owned by the Brooklyn Lodge of the Odd Fellows. Curry and the other Red Men made their own regalia out of ground squirrel and fox skins, as there were no companies in the state at that time to supply their needs.

Curry reportedly also spent some time in Grass Valley, but this has not been authenticated. One thing is certain: Curry was not satisfied with either San Francisco, Red Dog or Grass Valley. Consequently, in 1857, he and Charles joined the hordes, of individuals then travelling a rough, narrow road to Downieville. Rich ore was being found everywhere at the new camp. It seemed like everyone had rich claims, and with so much money in circulation, businesses sprang up like mushrooms after a rainstorm. In 1851, the National Theatre was built in back of the town's Lower Plaza by a Mr. Morris. (This is mentioned particularly because it has been written in numerous articles that Curry built Downieville's first theatre. It has also been written that Curry constructed the first livery stable, but William W. White built and operated an express and livery stable in 1852 before Curry's arrival.)

The lure of gold did not entice Curry into mining during his short time in the various mining communities. Instead, during the period he was in Downieville, he undertook some construction work. On April 10, 1858, he contracted with the Mountain Shade Lodge, Masonic Order, to build a room or hall in the second story of a building then being erected by Curry (and known as Curry's Building) on the north side of the Lower Plaza in Downieville. It was to be ready by June 1, 1858, and the contract stipulated that after its completion Curry was to be paid $60 a month rent for two years.

Curry and his son owned real estate in Downieville which they later sold to finance their move to Nevada Territory, although there is no record of such transactions found at the Downieville courthouse. There is, however, no denying that it was in Downieville that fate took a definite hand in shaping Curry's future. It was there that he met the men who travelled with him when he first went to Nevada. Three of them, Benjamin F. Green, Francis ("Frank") Marion Proctor and John J. Musser, had lived in the Downieville area for several years before the Currys arrived. These men, and Curry, became active in early Carson City affairs and, although their interests were different, they remained friends throughout their lifetimes. Frank Green, Ben's brother, W. B. Hickok, and Capt.William T. Ferguson, also made the trip over the Sierra to Nevada with the others.

The first record of Benjamin F. Green in Downieville appears when he was a partner with Henry Purdy in the jewelry and watchmaking business. Green also transacted some county business and he served as county treasurer in 1857. Proctor, an attorney, married Green's daughter, Caroline, on December 31, 1857 in Downieville, but maintained a home in Forest City. Proctor was quite active in political affairs. In October, 1852, he served on the first grand jury for the court of sessions in Downieville and was county assessor in 1855. Musser, also an attorney, was district attorney of Sierra County in 1856-57.

In Downieville during 1857, there were rumors that an army was being sent from Washington to put down a possible Mormon rebellion in Salt Lake City because Brigham Young and the federal government had failed to agree on numerous issues. It was further rumored that Young had sent word to all his Mormon colonies: "Dispose of your property, come in one company, let us all keep together so that we can protect ourselves against all foes, red and white." Soon, stories of the Mormon exodus from western Utah Territory, the area that is now Nevada, were in all of the California newspapers and some of the men who hadn't found riches in the gold fields travelled to that region to try their luck. With most of the Mormons gone from it, western Utah offered unlimited possibilities for an opportunist with plans for a prosperous future.

Curry, his son Charles, Musser, Frank Green, Proctor, Hickok and Captain Ferguson left Downieville some time during the early spring of 1858, and, like others, went over the mountains to take a look at Utah Territory. They stopped at Steamboat Hot Springs, approximately twenty miles from present day Carson City, and then moved on to Washoe Lake, where they did some fishing. At Franktown, the men found a small Mormon settlement in which Orson Hyde had erected a crude "tabernacle." There was another small settlement in Eagle Valley. Curry's party did not stop there but went directly on to Genoa in Carson Valley.

There is no record of how long the group stayed in the area, but it was probably just a few days. At the time, Carson Valley had sufficient water, tall grass and fertile soil to provide a substantial living for any settler. Curry, Proctor, Green and Musser were favorably impressed, for when they went back to Downieville they made plans to return to Utah Territory.

CHAPTER 2
First Years in Nevada

In July, 1858, Curry and his son, Charles, accompanied by Musser, Proctor, and Frank and Benjamin F. Green, left Downieville and crossed the Sierra by stagecoach to Genoa. Musser, Proctor and Green's wives remained in Downieville; Curry's family was still in the East. A popular explanation of their settling in Eagle Valley is of Curry's offering $1,000 for a corner lot in Genoa where he planned to build a store. The property owners would not accept his offer so he and his companions left and travelled to the next valley to the north.

Eagle Valley was not as attractive as Carson Valley. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but scrubby stands of sagebrush and other desert flora. There were only a few patches of stunted grass and not a tree in sight. By 1857 so much livestock was driven through the valley by pioneers on their way to California that the supply of grass was depleted.

Before the Mormons left the area, a group of men including Joseph and Frank Barnard, George Follensbee, A. J. Rollins, and Frank and W. L. Hall, established a trading post in the valley called the King Ranch. When Frank Hall shot an eagle and mounted it over his cabin door the place became known as the Eagle Ranch; the valley subsequently also took the name Eagle. Situated in a circular basin, the ranch consisted of several thousand acres bounded by the Warm Springs (where the Nevada State Prison was later located), present day Minnesota Street and the mountains.

I had another thought today about the Nevada Appeal's website. I know this one is completely pie-in-the-sky, and it's never going to get done, but it would be so cool if it ever did happen, and it would definitely take advantage of the fact that space on the internet is basically limitless.

I was reading Doc Searls, and he wrote a post a couple of days ago with advice for newspapers. And most of the advice is tips on how they can make it through the transition to online with a minimum amount of fuss. But when I hit #2 on the list, I had a brainstorm. #2 reads "Start featuring archived stuff on the paper’s website." And this is something the Nevada Appeal already does a tremendous job with. They have an archive section where you can pull up and read just about every article published in the paper over the last few years. It's a great tool, and I've used it many times.

But for some reason, when I was reading through Doc's thoughts on providing access to archives, most of which has to do with making the newspaper more visible to Google, and therefore increasing readership and advertising revenue, I started to think of a different kind of archive that the Nevada Appeal has, specifically the microfilm archives that stretch back over the last 140+ years of the paper's history. The paper started printing in May 1865, the year after statehood, as the Carson City Daily Appeal. And I'm pretty sure that archives exist for most of the paper's history; they have been dipped into constantly for the "Past Pages" column that was produced by Bill Dolan for nearly 60 years, and is still kept going by his son Trent and daughter Sue. But where are those archives kept? I don't know the answer; they're probably somewhere in the dusty stacks of the city or state library, available only to the few who have the time and inclination to go fetch them.

But why do they have to be hidden? Why does history always have to be locked away? My thinking is that the whole of the Nevada Appeal's archives, going all the way back to May 1865, should be available online. The old microfilms could be put up on the web as PDFs for everyone to read, and many of the more noteworthy stories from the past could be added to the paper's current archive system. This would be a tremendous resource for the community, and would do nothing but drive traffic to the paper's website. Which they could then use to raise their advertising rates, so everybody wins. And meanwhile the amount of armchair history that could be enabled by this move is immeasurable.

It's a project that I'd love to be a part of, if my plate wasn't already full with my job, family, new baby, and remodeling my house. I'm already trying to bootstrap a similar project that would make available online heaps of historic photos of the area, but I'm just stretched too thin to get anything finished anymore.