Nevada Historical Marker #21
The Humboldt Canal. The Humboldt Canal, sometimes termed the Old French Canal, coursed southwestward from Preble, near Golconda, toward Mill City. The present highway crossed it at this point, from whence it ran southerly toward the Humboldt County Courthouse on Bridge and West Fifth Streets.The canal was conceived in 1862 by Gintz and Joseph Ginaca. The waterway, with a projected cost of $160,000, was to be sixty-six miles long, fifteen feet wide and three feet deep, and with a fall of thirty-five feet. Its primary purpose was to supply water for over forty stamp mills planned at and above Mill City, but it was also designed for barge traffic and some irrigation water supply.Construction of the canal began in 1863. Louis Lay, a French emigrant from California, excavated the first segment. Winnemucca City founder Frank Baud, another Frenchman, worked on the project as a teamster.About $100,000, largely French capital, was expended in building the Humboldt Canal to the Winnemucca area. Because of engineering errors and severe seepage problems between Winnemucca and Mill City, that section was never completed or used.Several portions of the old canal are still visible in the Golconda area, in various sections of Winnemucca, and at Rose Creek, south of the city.
E 2nd St, Winnemucca, NV, United States
Nevada Historical Marker #164
Button Point. In 1873, Frank Button and his uncle Isaac Button drove cattle to the area to begin ranching operations in the rich, fertile valleys of northern and eastern Humboldt County.Under their famous Double Square brand, they raised thousands of fine horses on the 4,000 square miles of ranchland. Although the original ranch was sold in 1884, Frank Button continued his ranching activities in this area, and later served as the postmaster in Button Point and as the Chairman of the Board of Humboldt County Commissioners.
Mills Rd, Winnemucca, NV, United States
Nevada Historical Marker #2
Pioneer Memorial Park. This part of the Pioneer Cemetery includes the last resting place of Frank Baud and other of the pioneers who founded Winnemucca, earlier known as French Ford. Baud arrived in 1863 and is one of the men credited with naming the town Winnemucca after the famous Northern Paiute chieftain. Baud came with Louis Lay from California to work on the Humboldt canal, a project headed by Dr. A. Gintz and Joseph Ginaca who devised the plan to link Golconda and Mill City by means of a 90-mile canal and provide water for the mills in the area. It was never completed. Baud later became a merchant, helped build the Winnemucca Hotel with Louis and Theophile Lay, was the first postmaster, and gave the town a schoolhouse before his death in 1868.
Pioneer Park, Winnemucca, NV, United States