Nevada

 

Lake Tahoe at Zephyr Cove

During our touring of he Lake Tahoe area, we visited some of the historic (and in the case of Reno, not so historic) towns of western Nevada.  

Downtown Reno

Blarney Stone

In Reno, Virginia Ave through the midtown neighborhood was cute, but downtown doesn't have much to offer except the iconic Biggest Little City in the World sign. One oddity we noticed: a chunk of the Blarney Stone was imbedded in the outside wall of the casinos downtown. 

Virginia City was very cute, with the main street Avenue C lined with buildings from the late 19th century and wooden boards for sidewalk. It developed rapidly after the Comstock Lode was discovered in 1859, becoming for a brief period the richest city in the world. The Architecture self-guided walking tour is interesting, get a map at the Visitor Center. Samuel Clemens started his journalistic career writing for the Territorial Enterprise in 1862, using the pen name Mark Twain. 

Virginia City

Virginia City

View from VC

Virginia City

Courthouse

Carson City - The US built a Federal Mint to acquire the silver from Comstock and mint coins. The Nevada History museum in the old US Mint building is very interesting, providing a history of silver mining (including a realistic mine exhibit in the basement) and the Mint itself. 

State Capitol

U.S. Mint

Genoa (jen OH wah) was originally named Mormon Station, and is the earliest settlement in Nevada (which at the time was part of Utah Territory).  HS Beatie was sent from Salt Lake City to establish a trading post in the western part of Utah Territory in 1849, along the California Trail. Pioneers would stop here to rest and stock up on provisions for the arduous journey over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the central valley of California. 

Mormon Station

Original building at
Mormon Station