Carson City is the capital of the state of Nevada. It is a city with an interesting history and several sights. The first European Americans arrived to the valley in 1843. In 1851, the Eagle Station ranch had developed into a trading post, and it served as a stopover for California-bound immigrants. Carson City was founded in 1858 and named after the famous frontiersman Kit Carson, a mountain man, explorer and scout hired for the 1841 expedition.

Soon after, Carson City developed rapidly after the discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859. It was a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, and the discovery made Carson City a growing boomtown. The area was a art of the Utah Territory governed from Salt Lake City until Nevada achieved statehood in 1864, where Carson City was chosen as the state capital. Settlers headed by Abraham Curry, who bought Eagle Station in 1858, had already reserved an area for a state capitol building.

When Carson City became a state capital, the city was no longer dependent on mining, and it developed as a commercial center. It was also a time where Carson City built political institutions as the most famous landmark in the city, the Nevada State Capitol. The building was designed by Joseph Gosling and constructed in the Neoclassical Italianate style between 1869 and 1871. As a visitor you can explore the Capitol’s halls and learn about Nevada’s legislative processes through interesting exhibits while admiring the building’s classical architecture.

If you walk around the capitol you can see neighboring buildings as the Supreme Court of Nevada and the Nevada State Legislature. You can also walk along Carson Street which forms part of the historic downtown area. The historic St. Charles Hotel from 1862 is a prominent structure from the early days of Carson City. Just a short walk away is the Governor’s Mansion, which is an elegant example of Classical Revival architecture that has housed Nevada’s governors since 1909.

You can make a walking tour through the historic downtown district as well. The central streets are Carson Street and Curry Street, but all streets from N Carson Street in the east to Mountain Street in the west have sights to offer like Victorian-style homes, museums, and churches. A few of the notable stops are the former U.S. Post Office building from 1891 at 201 S Carson Street and the former U.S. Mint from 1869 at 600 N Carson Street. The mint was sold to the State of Nevada in 1939, renovated, and dedicated as the Nevada State Museum in 1941. You can also visit the First Presbyterian Church from 1864 at 110 N Nevada Street and the Carson Brewing Company from the same year at 449 W King Street.

There are some great museums in Carson City as well. At the Nevada State Museum, you can explore the cultural and natural heritage of Nevada. The exhibits tell the history from prehistoric period to modern day of the state including old geology, paleontology, days of silver mining and American Indian culture. South of downtown you can visit the Nevada State Railroad Museum, where you can explore the state’s rich railroad history. The museum features a collection of restored locomotives and railroad cars, and you can learn more about th railroad history of Carson City.