A Fascinating Museum, part 3

This museum also has a slot machine collection, after all, it is in Nevada's capital city. This collection shows the evolution of slot machines through the years.
There is also a "Creatures of Nevada" exhibit. It shows life size replicas of such denizens of the desert as Desert Tortoise, Desert Bighorn Sheep, Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, Great Basin Rattlesnake and many others.
There is an exhibit about the history of the Stewart Indian School, which was once located on the south side of Carson city until its closure in 1981.
A particularly fascinating exhibit is a collection of photos from the early 20th century boom town of Goldfield, which reached its maximum size in 1906 in what has been dubbed as "Nevada's second mining boom." This mining boom was concentrated in the central part of the state and gold was the mineral that drew people from far and wide to that part of the state. I will have more to say on Goldfield later in this blog because I went through this town a few days after my visit to Carson City.
About 1 1/2 miles south of the state capitol building is the Nevada State Railroad Museum. This museum has 5 steam locomotives, several restored passenger coach cars and several freight cars on display from various time periods. Railroads played an important part of life in the late 1800s and were invaluable to mines and mining communities.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to both of these museums. They do an excellent job of interpreting the state's history.

A Fascinating Museum, part 2

My favorite part of the Nevada State Museum is the Ghost Town Exhibit. Nevada is known for casinos, mines and ghost towns, for the most part. It is also known for deserts and military bases. The Ghost Town Exhibit shows the progression from a tent city to a thriving town to a town that had been abandoned after the mines played out. Most of Nevada's towns were founded as a result of mining booms. Outside of the two major population centers--the Las Vegas area and the Reno/Carson City area, most of Nevada's towns are still in the boom-and-bust cycle of the mining industry. Nevada is the closest approximation we have today of the Wild West days and the repeated mining booms that led to the settlement of the West and this country's expansion from coast to coast.
There is also a Mining Exhibit with a re-created underground mine shaft complete with tunnel that leads from a museum room to the mine chamber. Inside the mine chamber, there a tools that were commonly used in mines, such as pick axe, shovel, hard hat, dynamite stick, lantern and many other things.
The "Changing Earth Exhibit" has a display of an authentic Columbian Mammoth that was found in the Black Rock Desert of northwestern Nevada. It is estimated to be 1,750,000 years old.
There is an exhibit called "Under One Sky" that details that American Indian habitation of Nevada over the past 10,000 years. There is a large collection of woven baskets and artifacts from the Indian culture. There is also a related exhibit called "Rock Art Gallery."

A Fascinating Museum

Four blocks north of the Nevada State Capitol Building is the Nevada State Museum. The museum occupies the old United States Mint building on the corner of North Carson Street and West Robinson Street. The mint was established in 1870 because the mint in San Francisco(that still operates to this day),was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of gold and silver coming out of the western Nevada mines that needed to be coined. Since Carson City was booming as a result of the mining frenzy, it was decided to build a mint in Carson City. Having a mint in western Nevada also helped to reduce the high cost of shipping to San Francisco.
This former U.S. Mint is a two-story, sandstone edifice with a central cupola. Sound familiar? This building also follows the architectural theme that was established by the Nevada State Capitol Building. This architectural theme gives Carson City a "brown look" in its central business district. It does not have the old Spanish village look that Santa Fe does, however. Santa Fe has adobe buildings with wooden vigas lining narrow, crooked streets and an old, Spanish-style plaza. Carson City may have a "brown look" to it, but it also has a few downtown casinos that give it a "Nevada look."
The Carson City Mint was in operation from 1870 to 1893. It only minted coins. Dollar bills are minted in Washington, D.C. This mint was kept afloat by the high output of the nearby Comstock mines. The mint's "Coin Press #1" is on display in the state museum today and so are many of the coins that were once made there.

Nevada's elegant state capitol, part 4

The inside of the Legislative Building in modern, but stunning. It contains a central section that is only one story, but it is the height of all three stories of the building. That is, a person can stand on the bottom floor and look all the way up to the ceiling of the third floor with no obstructions. Both the Senate Chamber and the Assembly Chamber are in the design of a half circle and are at opposite ends of the building, with the Senate Chamber on the north end, nearest the capitol. Each legislator has an office in the building.
Today, the capitol building is home to the Executive Branch of the state government. The old Senate and Assembly chambers are now museum rooms, but I was told the both houses of the legislature meet one week per session in the capitol, for old time's sake. That means the museum displays have to temporarily stored somewhere.
The Supreme Court has also moved out of the capitol. Initially, it moved across the street, but now it is behind the Legislative Building on the capitol plaza. It is a short distance south of the State Library and Archives Building on South Stewart Street. This department of the state government is also in its third location. After moving out of the capitol, it moved two blocks north, on North Carson Street, into a building that now houses the Nevada Commission on Tourism and Nevada Magazine. Actually, it is in its fourth location because it has been located in two places inside the capitol, the second being that octagonal rear addition that was added in 1905 and now houses the state Controller's office.
The old Supreme Court Chamber inside the capitol has been restored to look the way it did in 1871, the year the capitol opened.
Carson City has one of the biggest concentrations of state office buildings of any capital city in the country. It is basically a government town, there is very little other industry there. State government is Carson City's industry.

Nevada's elegant state capitol, part 3

In 1971, exactly 100 years after the opening of the state capitol building, a new State Legislative Building opened next door. Due to the growth of the state and the growth of government in general, the capitol building had become severely overcrowded. Before the Legislative Building opened, three blocks of East Second Street and East Third Street were closed between the capitol and the Legislative Building so the buildings could be next door to each other on the same plaza. Also, to accommodate the new building itself, three blocks of East Fourth Street was closed permanently. Today, there is no vestige of these streets remaining. The new Legislative Building sits on top of the former alignment of East Fourth Street and the other two streets have been completely plowed up and landscaped. Now the Capitol Plaza covers 15 square blocks and contains 5 buildings--the capitol, the Legislative Building, the Supreme Court, the state library and archives building and the Blasdel State Office Building. There are many other state office buildings in the area, in addition to the ones on the plaza.
The Nevada State Legislative Building was built to mimic the State Capitol Building next door. Instead of sandstone, it covered with adobe plaster. As a result, it looks alot like a building in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The stucco exterior gives the building the same tan color that the capitol building has. The Legislative Building also has arched windows with white trim and a small, silver dome, just like the capitol. However, the Legislative Building's dome is mounted on top of the building differently. Instead of being mounted on top of an octagonal tower that rises above the building, the dome on the Legislative Building is mounted on top of a three-sided vestibule that protrudes from the front, center of the building. This vestibule has arched windows in it, like the capitol tower. It is supported by four, tan-colored columns that match the building's exterior. The Legislative Building's dome is circular, instead of six-sided like the one on the capitol is.

Nevada's elegant state capitol, part 2

The capitol grounds in Carson City are stunning! I have been on the grounds of nine state capitol plazas and the one in Carson City is my favorite. The capitol is nearly hidden behind all of the trees that are on the plaza. It is a veritable forest right in the middle of Carson City. The trees represent many different types and were donated by people, businesses or schools. Next to each tree is a small, concrete plaque that looks like a small headstone that indicates what type of tree it is, when it was planted and what county it came from. There are also a few trees that originally grew on the plaza when it was first set aside. There is also a double sidewalk that leads from Carson Street to the front porch of the building and the space between the two sidewalks is full of different types of flowers. There are so many trees on the plaza that it is hard to take a picture of the building! When I sat at a red light next to the capitol and I was facing the capitol, I could barely see the building! All I could see was about three feet of one of the Doric columns. There are a couple of places to stand on the capitol grounds where a person can take a decent picture of the building, but that picture would only be of the middle part of the front side of the building. The ends of the buildings would still be obscured by trees! I guess the best time to take a picture of the building would be in autumn and winter, when most of the trees have lost their leaves. The evergreen trees on the plaza would still have their leaves, though.
If a person goes a few blocks from the capitol in any direction, all he or she would see is the silver dome and the top of the white tower that supports it! That is all I could see from my motel room on the south side of town.
The capitol underwent an extensive rehabilitation from 1977 to 1981 to make it earthquake proof and fire proof. There is one result of that rehabilitation that I do not like and that is the fact that the original dome, which was made of pure silver, was replaced by a fiberglass dome that is painted silver. It is six-sided and looks like the original dome in all respects except that it is made out of fiberglass.

Nevada's elegant state capitol

The Nevada State Capitol was built in the form of a Grecian cross. The architectural style of the capitol is a mixture of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian,which are compounds of the Greek Order and yet the building is referred to as "Italianate" style. That octagonal tower above the capitol adds a really nice touch to the building. It duplicates the arched-window concept of the building while providing an elegant support for the silver dome that rises above it. The tower is 30 feet in diameter and the top of it is 120 feet above the ground.
In 1875, a fence was installed to completely enclose the capitol plaza to keep wandering cattle from entering the capitol grounds!
In 1905, an octagonal, addition was added to the back side of the capitol to serve as the state library.It was constructed out of the same material and in the same architectural style as the rest of the building. This addition now houses the state controller's office and his or her support staff.
In 1915, north and south wings were added to the capitol to provide larger chambers for the Senate and the Assembly. (Most states call the lower house of the legislature the House of Representatives, but some states call it the House of Delegates and 2 states, Nevada and California, call it the Assembly).
The front of the capitol building is accessed by seven concrete steps that lead to a small porch that is graced by the four Doric columns. The front entrance doors are wooden with large windows in the upper half. These wooden doors also add a nice touch to the building.
I love the interior of this building! The floors and wainscoting are made of Alaskan marble. On the walls there are decorative friezes that show the various industries and resources in Nevada. The ceilings have chandeliers and the arched windows have panes of twenty-six ounce French Crystal. The wooden stairs and bannisters also add a nice touch to the building and give it a historic ambience.
The silver dome is small and it is unusual because it is a six-sided dome sitting on top of an eight-sided tower. The silver dome represents the fact that the early mining boom that led to the creation of Nevada as a territory and, eventually, a state, was a silver boom. Silver is still the predominant mineral found in Nevada to this day.
The interior hallways are lined with paintings of past governors.

Carson City, a new capital city

In 1861, the three year old town of Carson City was named as the temporary capital of the newly created Nevada Territory, which had been split off from Utah. Nevada was not as big, area-wise, as it is now, the boundaries have been expanded several times since then to the east and to the south. One year later, in 1865, the eastern boundary was extended eastward into Utah one degree of longitude. Then, in 1867, the boundary was extended south, resulting in the southern tip that Nevada has today that includes Las Vegas. This land was taken out of Arizona Territory. Carson City, as was most of the population, was located on the far west edge of this area, next to the California border, in a well-watered area in the eastern foothills of the majestic Sierra Nevada mountain range. Three years later, upon the announcement of statehood for Nevada, the "temporary capital" status was made permanent.
During this momentous decade, the population of Carson City exploded from a mere 714 people to 3,042! The ongoing mining rush in the nearby mountains had alot to do with the growth, but the new capital city status further enhanced the town's growth.
When the decade of the 1870s dawned upon the land, the state government still did not have a state capitol building. They were still meeting in Abraham Curry's Warm Springs Hotel plus any other place they could find that offered sizable office space, such as banks. Some of the state government offices were even located in private homes! It was time to build a capitol building on the plaza in the middle of town that Abe Curry set aside for that purpose. The legislative act that provided for the construction of a state capitol building was signed by the governor on February 23, 1869.
The two-story, native sandstone, building was completed in 1871.
It is a light brown color due to its sandstone construction. The sandstone blocks represent the fact that most of Nevada is desert. The building has arched windows and fluted, Doric columns that are actually metal columns that are painted white to look like marble columns. In fact, all of the trim on this beautiful building is white, the window surrounds, the columns, the railing around the small porch that protrudes over the front entrance, the pediment and the eight-sided, octagonal tower above the building that supports the small silver dome. This octagonal tower also has arched windows in it.