Carson City looking north from the top of the Capitol building in 1871.
Saturday
150 Years Ago
Carson City Water Works: Mr. W.A. Hawthorne is engaging himself in active operations toward providing our city with a water supply. He has erected a large brick cement lined cistern opposite General Norse’s house. He has diverted the spring water of moist land nearby and from this is having conduit pipes which he expects to supply pure, soft water.
140 Years Ago
Plymouth rock eggs: Poultry raisers can obtain eggs of this desirable variety from Miss H.K. Clapp. Her hens are of perfectly pure blood. The Plymouth Rock Fowls are considered by poultry-men first-class in respect of size and laying qualities.
130 Years Ago
The Washoe Seeress: Mrs. Bowers, the seeress, is doing well off the gold excitement in California. She charges $5 to tell a man whether he will do better by going or staying.
110 Years Ago
All sorts:
Charles Clark has quit sorting the float on the San Juan claim at Ramsey and is sacking it all for the mill.
A cigar drummer had his purse containing $260 stolen from under his pillow in a sleeper at Reno.
50 Years Ago
Photo caption: Smiling faces – Girl Scout week is being held to commemorate the first day of Girl Scouts. The girls will be selling candy door-to-door throughout March as part of the birthday project. Shown with Mayor Robertson who proclaimed Girl Scout week is Terry Lawhead, and Kathy and Debbie Hanner.
20 Years Ago
Photo caption – Compassionate friends, a Carson City support group, is hosting a grief conference. Founder Jo Saulisberry, shown at her son Tracy’s gravesite, says the March conference will teach professionals more about how to help families cope with death.
Sunday
150 Years Ago
An old Irish song:
St. Patrick was a gentleman,
And came from dacent [sic] people;
In Dublin-town he built a church,
And on it put a steeple.
St. Patrick’s Ball: A ball will be given at the Turn Verein Hall in honor of St. Patrick. It will be a gay affair… The proceeds derived from the sale of tickets to a fund for the erection of a Catholic church.
140 Years Ago
Cracked Bell made whole: The cracked bell with its doleful sounds from the Episcopal tower, has been restored to its original sweetness of sound by the skillful hand of Mr. Joseph Irvin, the foreman of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad shops. No longer will our Episcopal friends be called to prayer by the croaking sound of a cracked bell, but by the clear ringing tones of the sweetest church bell in Carson.
Patriotic: Manager Farrell of the Western Union telegraph office had his two black and tan dogs decorated with green ribbons. It is St. Patrick’s Day, and Farrell has a penchant for appropriately observing all holidays.
130 Years Ago
All sorts: St. Patrick’s Day in the morning. The ladies of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church will give a ball in honor or Ireland’s patron saint.
Work seems to be lagging on the Public Building (Laxalt building)
B.F. Dahl writes the Chronicle that he has done the assessment work on the North Carson mine and that the jumping is illegal.
110 Years Ago
It celebrates Twain: Mark Twain lived in Humboldt County in the 1860s and the scenes of the celebrated “Rough It” was laid in the vicinity of the mineral discoveries at Black Canyon in the Humboldt range. The owners of the townsite at Black Canyon have chosen the name Twain for the townsite.
50 Years Ago
Photo caption: Egg Hunt – A certificate of appreciation, from the Carson City Active 20-30 Club to Jerry and Judy Dorsey, owners of the Carson Flower Shop, for their donation to the 35th annual Easter Egg Hunt. Larry Rogers, co-chairman of the annual event, makes the presentation…
20 Years Ago
Virginia City St. Patrick’s Day: The town was painted green again by Virginia City residents who feel Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.
Tuesday
150 Years Ago
A sad affair: Johnny Fife, a lad about 12 years old, got into the pest house and removed some of the bedding from there and played with it. The bedding had been used for men who died of smallpox. The lads are now down with the disease. A yellow flag is displayed at the residence of the poor boy’s parents. There is apprehension at the Lawlor’s school as the Fife boy attends there.
140 Years Ago
Highway Robbery – John Furlong, a rancher, and a Chinaman with him were relieved of about $125 in coin by a footpad. A stranger jumped up in front of the team, caught hold of the horses and pointed a pistol at the heads of the occupants of the wagon ordering them to “shell out.”
Furlong drew a self-cocking pistol, but it wouldn’t go off. Meanwhile, the footpad fired two shots at him. The badly scared Chinaman threw himself into the bed of the wagon, and Furlong jumped out still holding the reins in his hand. The robber placed his pistol to Furlong’s head, threatening to blow his brains out if he and the Chinaman did not disgorge. When they were ordered to drive back to Empire, they did so with wonderful promptness. When Furlong came back into town, they lodged a complaint with the Sheriff…
130 Years Ago
The most beautiful woman: The New York Herald claims that the most beautiful woman in the world attended the opera at the Metropolitan and has returned to Detroit. – The Free Press is in error. The woman is a resident of this place.
110 Years Ago
Advertisements: “Try one of those Sunday dinners at the Briggs House.”
“The train always stops plenty long enough for a ‘Bud’ at the Depot.”
“There is first class service at the Arlington Barber Shop.”
50 Years Ago
Photo caption: Bound for Florida – Terry Graham of Carson City, who plays in the Minnesota Twins’ organization, tried to counter the late spring training start he’ll get this season by working out at the YMCA. Graham is a former standout athlete at Carson High School, where he graduated in 1965. He plans to leave for Orlando, Florida, the Twins’ minor league system…
20 Years Ago
Ambrose Nature Study: A proposed name for the Carson City and U.S. Bureau of Land Management access area was named for Nicholas and Rebekah Ambrosia (Ambrose) who came to Gold Canyon in the 1850s. The town Empire City, also known as Dutch Nick’s, was located east of Carson City.
Sue Ballew is the daughter of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.