Lompa Ranch history goes back to 1936

The Lompa Ranch in east Carson City is on the market for residential and commercial development, but its genesis was as a family farm in 1936.

Simone "Sam" Lompa came to the United States in 1926 from Switzerland and 10 years later bought the land for dairy farming, said State Archivist Guy Rocha.

"Before that it was the Steve Belli Ranch, who was Swiss-Italian like the Lompas," Rocha said Friday. "It appears they knew each other in the old world and then in the new world."

The Lompa family recently decided to put their 413-acres on the market for $76.6 million, a price that many believe they will get because of the ranch's prime location in the heart of the city, located north of Fifth Street and east of Saliman Road between Saliman and the future freeway.

"What we're seeing with the passing of the Lompa property is one more ring in the death of agriculture in the Eagle Valley, that's what it represented," Rocha said.

Sam and Eva Lompa moved to the property as newlyweds after purchasing it in 1936. They raised dairy cows and sheep on the 820-acre farm, which has dwindled to about 418 acres as Carson City has surrounded it.

Rocha said at one time Carson City was a state capital with a substantial agricultural community, and the Lompas represented one of the larger farms.

"It's long standing been one of the largest ranches on the east side of the valley."

Urbanization steadily began to encroach on the Lompa dairy farm. The Lompas and their three children sold dairy products to a creamery in Minden. Once that closed in the early 1960s, the Lompas converted their land into a cattle ranch operated by Sam Lompa Jr., according to Appeal records.

The Lompas have donated land for Carson High School, but have also had to sell about 82 acres to the Nevada Department of Transportation for the freeway bypass, which nearly bisects the remaining Lompa Ranch, according to Appeal records. The Lompa family had a lengthy negotiation process with NDOT to settle on the $12 million price for the land in 2004. The family matriarch died the summer before the agreement was reached.

"This particular property has been in ag use, is multigenerational and goes back to people who knew each other as Swiss-Italians," Rocha said. "So with the Lompas selling and leaving the scene a long tradition involving Swiss-Italians and this property comes to a close."

• Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.