City Christmas ornament features Ferris Mansion

Shoppers, collectors and all-around holiday enthusiasts can add some sparkling Carson City history to their Christmas trees and other spaces this season. The city has released its 2023 ornament of the Ferris Mansion, a house that still stands at 311 W. Third St.

“I just think this is beautiful, one of our nicer ones,” Stan Jones said at the Purple Avocado on Dec. 5.

Stan and wife Sue have run the Curry Street gift shop since 2001 and have been involved with the city’s ornament program since it began in 2002.

Before he became a Carson City supervisor — now retired — Stan Jones was involved in redevelopment of the downtown corridor. The ornament program arose from a conversation Carson architect Art Hannafin had with then-mayor Ray Masayko. Hannafin was worried the city would lose its historic buildings and wanted a way to highlight them, Jones recalled.

“Part of it was for the downtown merchants to help attract business,” he said.

Teaming up with then-Supervisor Robin Williamson, Jones helped pick the first 12 buildings. He said the ornaments are made by a company in Ohio, and the city sells them to participating shops, generating enough revenue to break even.

Costing $15 each, the ornaments are sold at the Purple Avocado, the gift shop at the Nevada Legislature, the Carson City Chamber of Commerce and the Nevada State Museum. Historic building featured in past years include the Stewart Indian School, Laxalt Building, Governor’s Mansion, St. Charles Hotel and others.

“There are four ornaments we are all out of. We only make 1,500 a year,” said Jones. “The Laxalt Building was the first building, and it was very popular, and it sold out immediately. The prison (Nevada State Prison) was another popular one, and Stewart and the Capitol.”

Jones described how the ornaments draw serious collectors.

“A lot of people, they have the whole collection. I do,” he said.

Besides highlighting local history, the ornaments extend community spirit during the holidays.

“We have people that come in and buy for their kids that no longer live here, but they want that nostalgic memory of living in Carson,” Jones said. “It’s just a lot of fun, really.”

The Ferris Mansion, also known as the Sears-Ferris House, was built by Gregory Alvin Sears in 1863, according to documents with the structure’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1868, the house was sold to the Ferris family.

“George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., who was to become the most prominent figure associated with the house, was a young boy when the family moved to town,” reads the original nomination form.

Ferris, Jr., would go on to invent the Ferris wheel that people associate with amusement parks in the present day.

“Family tradition has it that Ferris conceived the idea of his wheel from his early days in Nevada, where he would watch the waterwheels on the Carson River which were used to crush the ore from Virginia City,” reads the form.

A plaque on the house states the original Ferris wheel was commissioned for the 1893 Chicago Exposition (world’s fair) to “surpass the Paris Exposition’s Eiffel Tower.”

“Ferris created and engineered the world’s renowned giant amusement park ride, a delight to children of all ages,” reads the plaque.

The new ornament combines a Ferris wheel with the storied house. Supplies are limited. The Purple Avocado can be reached at 775-883-6233.