Douglas County Historical Society

As our collections are extensive and there is not always a way to exhibit everything, DCHS has created this page to give you a glimpse of some of the artifacts you might not otherwise be able to see.

Curator Telephone: 775-782-2555
Email: Curator@HistoricNV.org

Appointment Hours: Fridays by appointment.

Image scans are available for purchase.
Contact the Curator for more information.

December 2019

Postcard, “Wishing You A Happy New Year”. Postmarked Reno, December 31, 1912, addressed to Mrs. Edna Champagne, Genoa. Message on back reads,

“Dear Edna & All, I went to town this morning and got some New Year’s cards, hope this finds you all well, as it leaves us at present. We have had lots of writing to do since Xmas, expect to be alone tomorrow. Wishing you a prosperous New Year. Love, Grace, Annie and Ray”

This Christmas postcard reads, “Fond Recollections”. It is postmarked Reno, December 23, 1919, and is addressed to Master Leonard Champagne, Sparks. The message on back reads,

“Hoping Santa will bring you lots of toys and goodys and your Christmas will be a merry one, from Raymond”

Poster for the Genoa Christmas Faire held December 4-5, 1999

1949 Douglas County High School Band on a float in the winter, possibly at the tow rope ski run at Spooner Summit near Highway 28.

Left to right-Seated: Elinor Godecke (brass horn ?), Bill Wennhold (Tuba), Janet Miller (?), Nevada Wise (Trombone), Shirley Lundergreen (Trombone), Unidentified, Unidentified, Marie Etchemendy, Barbara Rosenbrock , Mildred Dreyer, Nevalyn Berrum, Violet Graham, Louanna Tietje, Unidentified; Standing: John Lundergreen, Ray Jepsen, Lois Schacht (Bass Drum).

November 2019

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

from the Douglas County Historical Society

A “Thanksgiving Greetings” postcard sent to Mrs. William (Edna) Champagne, Genoa, Nevada dated November 29, 1911. The missing corner is where the stamp was removed.

This Lew Hymer’s caricature was published on page 18 of the November 1945 “Nevada Magazine” and is titled Nevada Brands and their Owners. Carson Valley Owners shown include George Henningsen; Bill Dressler a former State Senator for Douglas County; Fred Dressler, son of Bill, who carried on their ranching operations; John Dangberg of Dangberg Land & Livestock Co. and father of Grace Dangberg; Maurice Mack who owned the former H. H. Springmeyer ranch near Minden.

This photograph shows the exterior of the East Fort Hotel on Main Street, Gardnerville, after the fire at the bar on November 20, 1986.

 

In honor of Veterans’ Day on November 11, 2020…never forget

The October 1, 1918 WWI postcard on the left is from Clarence Frevert to his brother, Henry Jr. from Camp Funston, Ft. Riley, Kansas writing about the Spanish Influenza outbreak at the camp. Clarence was serving in the ambulance corps and helping the sick.

The postcard on the right titled, “These Supply Trains Will Continue Moving As Long As You Folks Buy Bonds” is dated November 8, 1918. It is an overseas post card addressed to Henry Frevert, Jr. from his brother William H. Frevert who was serving in France and talks about the death of their brother Clarence from the influenza.

This is an invoice from the now gone Midland Garage addressed to the C. O. D. Garage dated November 3, 1937.

October 2019

Happy Nevada!

This is a Nevada Pioneer, 1964 – 1946, Certificate presented to Cerissa Mott Fettic. It is signed by Nevada Governor Vail Pittman and states that she was born in Mottsville, Nevada Territory, on January 17, 1862 prior to the admission of Nevada as a state.

This photograph is Percy and Agnes Train on one of their many adventures fossil and plant hunting in Nevada. The handwriting under the image reads, “The Trains, packed with plant presses, dog and chicken. 1935”. Be sure to join us for the Genoa Cemetery Tour on Saturday, October 19^th and hear Percy & Agnes’ story.

This is a photograph of Jane Raycraft Campbell posing outside wearing a long skirt and a blouse with a peplum.  Note the school desk in the background.  Be sure to join us for the Genoa Cemetery Tour on Saturday, October 19^th and hear Jane’s story.

Football program for the October 5, 1962 game between the Douglas Tigers and Hawthorne,  So, researchers, who won this game?  

September 2019

This is an image of the poster for the 69th Annual Genoa Candy Dance held on September 23, 1989.

This is an undated view of haystacks somewhere in the Carson Valley in the fall. Appropriate as this coming Monday is the official first day of fall. Any ideas where this photograph may have been taken?

This photograph of Cathedral Peak, Yosemite was taken by Juanita Schubert on September 25, 1938. To see other images, be sure to visit our exhibit of a few of her photographs at the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center, Gardnerville.

This is a souvenir of miniature, leather, stuff boxing glove with a paper identification tag from the September 3, 1906, Nelson – Gans prizefight held in Goldfield, Nevada. We currently have an exhibit downstairs in the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center, Gardnerville of souvenirs and photographs of Nevada prizefights. Be sure to stop by and see it.

August 2019

“Rock Formations” by Juanita Schubert, dated August 1938. Be sure to visit the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center, Gardnerville to see more of this artist’s photographs currently on exhibit.

This invoice was submitted by C. W. Dake to Douglas County for coffin for Christopher Hull dated August 30, 1880. Was Mr. Hull an indigent? Why was the county asked to pay for a coffin for this man? Upon a bit of research, it seems that before August 20, 1880, Christopher Hull was found murdered in his cabin. An article on page 3 of the August 20, 1880 Genoa Weekly Courier details the unsuccessful efforts by Sheriff Williams to determine who perpetrated this “most foul murder” in Jacks Valley.    Did they ever solve this case?  We do not know.

Here are few images  related to the August 1980 bombing of Harvey’s Casino Resort, Lake Tahoe.

Today, August 3rd, we are celebrating the anniversary of the 1995 Grand Opening of the  Carson Valley Historical Society.  Below is a photograph of Basque Dancers performing at the grand opening.  At left is the invitation to the Homecoming Dance and Grand Opening on August 19, 1995.

 

Nevada is often seen as a tourist draw.  Though Reno, Las Vegas, and Lake Tahoe attract their fair share, Nevada worked hard to draw people to visit and settle in the state. In response to population flight, Nevada legalized gambling in 1931.  Government agencies like the Nevada Department of Highways took up the challenge of luring people to the state.  The magazine cover of “Nevada Highways and Parks” published in March 1938 advertises the new highways in the state and also tries to show the wild nature of the state with the depiction of the men and their horses.  The back cover provided a map of all the major roadways in the state.  The expanding highway and interstate system, much of which we still use, was a needed investment to draw people to the otherwise inaccessible state.  Later publications by the Nevada Department of Highways continue to paint the state as a vacation destination, advertising the “State’s metropolis” of Reno and the gold mining town of Tonopah.   An issue in 1959 took advantage of the upcoming Olympic Games to advertise the snow-sport potential of Nevada and encourage people to go skiing.  The back cover made sure to show the newly constructed Interstate 80 as a draw to the region.  Other issues of “Nevada Highways and Parks” displayed the ranching tradition and potential of the state or took a look at the scenery of Geiger Grade.

July 2019

“WHEREAS, as Nevadans living in an enlightened age, it is only fitting that we should pause to reflect upon the achievements of those hardy early pioneers who settled in what was then considered a vast wilderness. To these men and women we owe an everlasting debt, for it was through their herculean efforts that Nevada grew and prospered through the years;”

These words come from a Proclamation by Governor Charles H. Russel which declared Saturday, July 14, 1951 as Nevada First Settlement Centennial Day.  The language above shows how Nevadans almost 70 years ago saw the first white settlers in the area.  The proclamation praises the hard working spirit of the settlers and their conquering of the Nevada wilderness.  Does Nevada retain that image of a vast wilderness needing to be conquered?

In addition to an observance and celebration at Genoa, the sage green 3 cent commemorative stamp was issued depicting a log cabin, pioneers, and the surrounding mountains. The stamp is based on a painting done by the Genoa based painter, Hans Meyer-Kassel.

The proclamation issued in 1951 invites the public to consider the legacy of those who came 100 years before them.  Now, 168 years after the first permanent white settlement, we continue to consider how those settlers affected and were affected by the landscape and the people already in the area.

 

The National Weather Service can warn the public of severe weather by sending an alert to cell phones. Likewise law enforcement today can alert the public of a kidnapped child by sending Amber Alerts. Law enforcement did not always have the luxury of the public being immediately aware of situations such as severe weather or a kidnapped children.  The postcard on the left, simply addressed to the County Sheriff in Minden, Nev. shows how tracking fugitives worked not long ago. Unable to reach the public by televisions or cell phones, the warden of a prison instead send out postcards.  Danny Shirley was received at the United States Penitentiary at McNeil Island, Washington in 1921 after being sentenced to four years after interstate transport of stolen vehicles. Danny Shirley is described as “ruddy,” missing teeth, having a scar on his nostril, missing the tip of his right thumb, and thus should have been easy to identify.  This postcard to a sheriff nearly 700 miles away in Minden, Nevada shows the lengths the penitentiary had to go to find their escaped inmates.  Note the marks on the corners where the postcard was likely taped to be displayed on the window.   The postmark shows the postcard coming through Tacoma on August 13th, 1923, 2 days after his escape.   Danny Shirley later served time at the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth and was assigned inmate number 21010 there.

Another postcard to the Sheriff’s Office reads “Please cancel PICK-UP for Clyde Dixon Vickers, wanted by King County Sheriff, was arrested by Vallejo Cal. Police, and returned to Seattle.”  This notice, which was dated Jan. 23, 1951, suggests that these low tech mailings could help catch a wanted person.  Similar to the wanted notices, another card from the vault details two missing girls who had run away from home in Price, Utah in 1930.  The girls, aged 16 and 14, both described as wearing striped overalls, and one wearing a satin lined coat with a fur collar, were to be reported to S. Marion Bliss, Sheriff of Carbon County.

June 2019

This is a souvenir from the Fairview School District with a photograph of the school on the front cover, dated June 5, 1908. Staff listed are Janie E. Mills, Teacher, Officers – W. H. Springmeyer, President, F. H. Dressler, Clerk, and John Tucke. Pupils listed are Emma Andersen, Mary Andersen, Lovina Andersen, Annie Andersen, Emma Thran, Irma Settelmeyer, Flora Smith, Ellen Heitman, Myron Dressler, Frederick Dressler, Willie Tucke, Carl Than, Richard Thran, Carl Manfrini, Gene Manfrini, Ernest Dressler, Otto Heitman, George Settelmeyer, Fred Settelmeyer, Herbert Dressler.

May 2019

This envelope reads, “World’s Smallest Chamber of Commerce, May 31st, – 50, Last Day of Mail Service via V & T RY.” and is addressed to Mrs. Walter J. Scott, Genoa, Nevada.

An invitation to the Douglas County High School the Junior-Senior Prom on Friday evening, the twenty-fifth of May at the Minden Inn, Minden, Nevada. So, Prom was on Friday night and the banquet was on Saturday night.  Unfortunately, there is no year listed for this event!

Photograph entitled, “The rivalry continues!” The Fourth Annual Great Lake Tahoe Sternwheeler Race pits California’s Tahoe Queen versus Nevada’s M. S. Dixie, Memorial Day, May 25 at South Lake Tahoe. The Queen won last year’s race to take a 2 -1 lead in the series.” May 25, 1987. I wonder who won that race in 1987.

In our archives is this ticket to the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, valid May 1 to October 30, 1893, No. 359616.  Also known as the Chicago’s World’s Fair, this is where the Ferris Wheel was introduced.  The inventor, George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., was the younger brother of Margaret Ferris Dangberg and moved to Carson Valley with his family when he was about five years-old.

Be sure to visit the Courthouse Museum, Genoa and see the recently refurbished Ferris Wheel exhibit.

April 2019

Photograph of Kari Begovich riding in the Douglas High School Rodeo on April 28, 1983.

Happy Easter!

Stereopticon Card entitled, “Giving the children their suppers”.  The children just happen to be rabbits with Easter eggs. Copyright is 1890 by George Barker.

In our archives is this postcard image of the April 18, 1906, San Francisco earthquake showing the ruins of the Palace Hotel.

Record-Courier newspaper article entitled, “Thirty Artesian Wells in Douglas County”, is dated April 11, 1913. This represents the first complete data on artesian well flows in the Carson Valley, drilled by Howard Beers.

This program is for the play, “And Mary Did”, a Comedy in Three Acts, and was staged by the Genoa Parent-Teachers Association at the

C. V. I. C. Hall in Minden on the night of April 9, 1932.

March 2019

This is an early photograph of the Kinsey House on Genoa Lane across from the Pink House. Stephen Kinsey came west with John Reese to settle Mormon Station, later named Genoa, Utah Territory. He was the first County Recorder of Douglas County.

The Nevada State Journal printed an article in Sunday December 21, 1947 article entitled, “Tiny Figurine of White, Gold Now Remembrance of Tragedy of 1882. It told the story of the March 17, 1882 avalanche, which took the four lives of the four members of the Meinrod Bauer family as well as a Washoe couple. The ceramic figurine was saved from the debris.

The Millennium Patchwork Quilt was hand quilted by volunteers for the 2001 Carson Valley Historical Society (now Douglas County Historical Society) membership drive. Each square depicts a familiar Carson Valley landmark.  This quilt is on exhibit at the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center, Gardnerville, during March 2019 in honor of  Women in History month.

From our archives – handwritten, “Message from the (United States) Senate informing that John Cradlebaugh has been confirmed Adjutant General of the State of Nevada, March 11th 1865.”

DCHS Marching Band in 1936

Bottom Row L-R: Harriet Morrison, Verla Park, Fritzi Jane Neddenriep, Leon Etchemendy, Alice Meneley, Mary Margaret Cardinal, Lilly Felten;

Second Row L-R: Arendt Jensen, Carl Boerner, Luke Bergevin, Budd Dressler, John Brown, Bruce Roberts, Willie Etchemendy;

Third Row L-R: Franklin Fisher, Albert Heidtman, John M. “Jack” Baker, Elinor Wyatt, Marvin Darrough, William Hussman, Verna Park;

Back Row L-R: H. B. Shaw (Principal), Marvin Luhrs, Donald Bergevin, Alpha Jacobsen, Walter Heidtman, Raymond Bartels, Charles Meneley (Teacher).

February 2019

Photograph of the Minden Inn with a “Minden Hotel” sign taken on February 28, 1985                                

Hubert Gottlieb, Genoa, surveys the flood damage to his front yard on February 27, 1986.

Postcard with “Minden Feb. 12, 1923 printed on the front.” Handwritten on the back: “Minden Hay Barn Blown Down 1923.”