Carson City, In The Beginning

1858 is the pivotal year that started the state of Nevada on its present course. That is the year that Abraham Curry arrived in the Eagle Valley. Soon thereafter he surveyed and platted a townsite. When Curry arrived, there was already talk about this area being separated from Utah Territory and becoming its own territory. Curry was so sure that his new town would become the capital that, when he drew up the town plat, he left a large, vacant space in the heart of town so the future territory would have a place to build a capitol building.
Curry's new town was indirectly named after the famed western explorer Kit Carson. The town was named for the Carson River and the river was named for Kit Carson.
Shortly after Carson City was settled, Abraham Curry built the Warm Springs Hotel and immediately began renting out rooms.
At first, Carson City was a sleepy little village. However, one year later, the Comstock Lode Mining Boom began and brought people from all over the country to this corner of Nevada Territory. This time, it was not gold that attracted people to pull up stakes and leave, it was silver. There was silver everywhere! The biggest lodes of silver ever discovered! Silver is still the principal mineral that is mined in Nevada. The silver rush of 1859 brought economic prosperity to Curry's new town, which was only a year old. Not only did Carson City become a "mining camp," but so did most of the other towns in the immediate area. Most of the mining was done in and around Dayton, Virginia City and Silver City. There was also gold found just to the south of Virginia City and this led to the creation of the town of Gold Hill.
This boom of 1859 brought about 20 years of economic prosperity to this area.
On March 2, 1861, the United States Congress did the inevitable and separated Nevada from Utah and declared it a new territory. The booming town of Carson City was declared the temporary capital by the newly created Territorial Legislature, much to the delight of Abraham Curry. Curry began leasing space in his hotel as meeting rooms for the fledgling government, since his open plaza in the middle of town was being used to graze cows.