local history

Silver City, Nevada - The Silver City Post Office, established in 1860, has a display case with changing collections that highlight local history as well as current programs.

Display of Work by Visiting Artists: For those who missed a December 2016 show featuring the artwork, essays, poems, assemblages, and photographs created by visiting artists at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City, some of the pieces are on display at the Silver City Post Office through March.

Carson City history is fascinating, and there’s so much of it. But, much of it is gone and so much is untold. That is, until now.

A significant part of this city’s history is finally being told by Bonnie Boice Nishikawa, new historian/author, who has just published a chronicle of her experiences growing up in the Nevada State Orphans/Children’s Home or “Sunny Acres”, once very much a part of the downtown history between 1870-1992.

Officials dedicated 25 Schenley benches in downtown Carson City Wednesday afternoon, an effort started at the first of year to support downtown redevelopment efforts.

Madame Curry paid special tribute to the spirits Saturday night during the Mary Ann Bennett Memorial Ghost Walk through sections of Carson City’s historic west side neighborhood.

Sherry L. Rupert will speak on preserving the Stewart Indian School, in a free presentation at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Saturday, September 24, at 10:00 am.

For ninety years, Stewart Indian School fulfilled a federal commitment to pursue Native American education in Nevada. Located three miles southeast of Carson City, the school grounds encompassed 240 acres.

A free Western Heritage Festival comes to the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Saturday, September 17, beginning at 10:00 am.

The festival will include Dutch oven cooking, a heritage quilting presentation, Chautauquas of local historical figures, honky-tonk guitar and jug music, as well as a day filled with children’s crafts and activities.

Anita Watson will portray Mary Pickford, at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Wednesday, September 7, at 6:30 pm.

Mary Pickford was America’s Sweetheart. Pickford was an actress on the stage and in film, a writer, a producer, a director, and co-founder of a movie studio. She socialized with Hollywood’s most famous stars and married a swashbuckling film hero, Douglas Fairbanks. In 1955, Mary Pickford published her autobiography, Sunshine and Shadows. In this presentation, Pickford will discuss her book and her life.

Historian Steve Davis will speak on a visual exploration of photography and the American West in the nineteenth century, in a free presentation at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 10 a.m.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Exhibition comes to the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Saturday, August 27, beginning at 11:00 am.

Author Gary Noy will speak on his book, Sierra Stories: Tales of Dreamers, Schemers, Bigots and Rogues, in a free presentation at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Sunday, August 14, at 10:00 am.

Steve Hale will portray Stephen T. Mather, first director of the National Park Service, at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Wednesday, August 10, at 6:30 pm.

Three years of change and rebranding efforts by the Carson City Visitors Bureau (CCVB) are turning the Nevada state capital into a tourist destination, said CCVB Executive Director Joel Dunn, and no longer a point on the road map to pass through.

Author Guy Clifton will speak on his book Dempsey in Nevada in a free presentation at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Saturday, August 6, at 10 a.m.

Many people are surprised to learn that Jack Dempsey once called Nevada home. Dempsey left footprints all over the Silver State that affected the entire sporting arena.

The weekend of July 23 and 24 the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park will feature two days of Dangberg family history with a Chautauqua on Fred Dangberg, Jr. and a presentation by his real life grandson Steve “Dink” Achard. Both presentations are free.

Author Mark McLaughlin will speak on his book, Snowbound! Legendary Winters of the Tahoe Sierra, in a free presentation at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Sunday, July 10, at 10 a.m.

Mark McLaughlin’s latest book is not about meteorology, however it is about weather. In his book, McLaughlin focuses on the top ten biggest winters in the Tahoe Sierra based on snowfall measured at Donner Pass since 1879. He will share amazing weather facts and incredible stories of men and women struggling to cope against some of the most powerful storms on Earth.

Chautauqua performers Dana Blane, Larry Lippmann and Mike Trute will portray local historical figures Donner Party survivor “Patty Reed”, Stagecoach driver “Hank Monk” and U.S. Marshall “Warren Wasson” at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Wednesday, July 6, at 6:30 pm.

Crowds turned out Sunday to see vintage trains up close and experience local history in action at the Nevada State Railroad Museum off South Carson Street in Carson City.

Visitors were treated to rides aboard V&T Engine No. 25 of the original Virginia and Truckee Railroad line, as well as the Glennbrook Engine originally of the Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company and later the Lake Tahoe Railway & Transportation Company.

Washoe Lake State Park north of Carson City will offer two opportunities to learn about past holiday traditions and local history plus a unique full moon hike on Christmas Eve.

Northern Nevada Christmas Past will be a family-friendly, Christmas-themed slide show that covers past holiday traditions combined with local history from Virginia City, Fort Churchill, Buckland Station and other areas of Northern Nevada. Rangers will also discuss origins of holiday traditions, including Santa Claus, candy canes and Christmas trees.

The Nevada State Prison in Carson City is the latest addition to the National Register of Historic Places, with its listing Friday by the National Park Service. The National Register is the nation’s official list of properties worthy of preservation.

Every 15 minutes, the chimes in the Laxalt Building ring through downtown Carson City, marking the passage of time with a classical tune or a Beatles melody, even the state’s song, “Home Means Nevada.” But it hasn’t always been that way.

Chautauqua performer Lisa Bommarito will present “The Extraordinary Life of Eilley Orrum Bowers” at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Wednesday August 5, at 6:30 pm.

The event is open to the public and free to attend.

The 27th annual Nevada Writers Hall of Fame welcomes two new inductees, poet Shaun Griffin and folklorist and historian Ronald M. James. This year’s ceremony will take place Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014 in the Milt Glick Ballroom on the fourth floor of the Joe Crowley Student Union. Alicia Barber, author of Reno’s Big Gamble, will be awarded with the 2014 Silver Pen Award at the ceremony.

Nevada Writers Hall of Fame Award: Shaun Griffin and Ronald M. James

Some people, when they first see Lake Tahoe, think how it'd be nice to boat on top of the glass like water. Others imagine fishing on the lake stocked with big fish, while yet others think about how nice it would be to sit at the quiet and scenic shore and enjoy the sun and the view.

To nine year old Erline Christopherson, all she thought when first saw the crystal blue waters was how she'd like to swim across it. The dream was born that day in 1955.

Project Americans Coming Together local director Carla Wilson, and event coordinator Joy Evans will hold an informational meeting and auditions for two local original productions designed to bring both national and local history to life.

This meeting will be held on Friday, August 1, 2014, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints located at 411 N. Saliman Road in Carson City.

Carson City will be in the national spotlight as film crews from C-SPAN will begin taping a segment beginning July 8 that will feature local history and authors that will air to a nationwide audience in August.

Mayor Robert Crowell and Charter Communications will welcome the national network on the steps of the Nevada State Capitol as they prepare for a week-long visit to record and feature the city’s history and literary life. On Monday, July 8, C-SPAN representatives will reveal the stories and segments that will be explored.

This week's guest on Women to Women Nevada is Doreen Mack of Carson City who discusses with hostess Carol Paz, among other things, downtown Carson City parking issues, creating a historic downtown, some local history and her own interior decorating business, Lofty Expressions.

Alfred Doten had one of the longest tenures of any Sagebrusher in the history of the Comstock. His Nevada career began at Como in 1863, and ended 40 years later with his death in Carson City in 1903.  Today Doten is remembered for the journals he wrote spanning 54 years documenting his career and personal experiences. Seventy years after his death, the University of Nevada Press published a massive three volume set, weighing a hefty 14 1/2 pounds, titled: “The Journals of Alfred Doten 1849-1903.”

After 21 years serving as executive director of the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau, Executive Director Candy Duncan has announced her retirement.
She will officially retire on Jan. 1, she told the board in a letter. During her tenure, Duncan oversaw the transformation of Carson City as a travel destination, changing the tourism paradigm by highlighting the area's rich history and modern amenities as attractive attributes to luring visitors to the capital city.