150 Years Ago
Advertisement. “Second Annual Ball of the Carson Zouaves! To be held at the Pavilion, Carson City on the first Anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday (Monday Eve, Feb. 12, 1866). Committee of arrangements: Private K. Kiesee, Q. M. Serg’t F. G. Ludlow, Ord. Serg’t D. Kitzmeyer, Captain O. A. Witherell. Tickets are $3. In case of unfavorable weather, carriages will be in attendance.
130 Years Ago
Adolph Sutro. At the Cliff House Sutro is laying out an absolutely grand scale park and palace and expending millions on the project. He has planted over a quarter of a million rare trees and imported books and stationary from Europe. At one time he had the idea of purchasing one of these spots in Nevada when he made his millions, but his character was defamed in the press and the Comstock fought him. What he leaves behind in San Francisco will honor him long after he has passed away.
110 Years Ago
All sorts. Lloyd Ivory, a former employee of the Virginia and Truckee railway shops in Carson and whose death was reported, is alive and well and employed in the Tonopah shops. A government agent for allotting lands to Indians on Walker Lake has arrived and says the place will not be open for settlers for seven months.
70 Years Ago
Atomic energy. Atomic energy may be used for product of heat or of electric power for whole communities, according to Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer. The energy can be stored in the concentration in a pea-sized pellet, but it requires at least a 50-ton unit encased in walls of concrete.
50 Years Ago
Highway 395 relocation hearing. Plans to relocate U.S. Highway 395 between Carson City and Reno are underway. The relocation would extend 19 miles through Southern Washoe County. The cost is approximately $10 million.
20 Years Ago
Closure rumors. Smith’s Food and Drug Center has closed or sold stores in Southern California. The remaining stores in Carson City, Reno and Gardnerville will stay open. “The rumors were out of control. We are not in negotiations for the sale of the company.” Shelly Thomas, Smith’s spokeswoman.
Sue Ballew is the daughter of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.