Nevada Historical Marker #12
Nevada’s Birthplace. Carson Valley is the Birthplace of Nevada. By 1851, people settled at a place they called Mormon Station, renamed Genoa in 1856. With the early establishment of a post office and local government, the community can lay claim to the title of “Nevada’s first town.”Thousands of emigrants moved over the old road skirting the west bank of the Carson River as they prepared to cross the Sierra, feeding their livestock on grass cut along the river. At Genoa; at Mottsville, settled in 1852; and at Sheridan, settled by Moses Job about ’54; emigrants stopped to enjoy produce of the region’s first gardens. Pony Express riders used this route in 1860, switching a year later to the shorter Daggett Trail, now Kingsbury Grade.
Genoa Lane, Genoa, NV, United States
Nevada Historical Marker #120
Walley’s Hot Springs. Like many Nevada hot springs, the ones located as Walley’s Hot Springs dot a fault break along which the mountains rise.In 1862, along this Carson branch of the emigrant trail, David and Harriet Walley developed a $100,000 spa eleven beds, a ballroom, and gardens. The thermal water (l36 to 160 degrees F) became well known as a cure for “rheumatism and scrofulous afflictions.”Walley’s Hot Springs sold for a mere $5,000 in 1896, but operated until 1935 when it burned down. Its formal cool cellar was integrated into the complex during a 1970s renovation.In 1962, trial hydrothermal power holes were drilled here as deep as 1,250 feet and found thermal water with a maximum temperature of 181 degrees.
Foothill Road, Genoa, NV, United States