Located about 15 minutes northwest of Gardnerville, Genoa is well worth a stop while you’re in the area. Founded in 1865, this former county seat was Nevada’s first permanent settlement. Today, visitors can get a taste of the past at the Courthouse Museum, which is conveniently located on Main Street. There’s level access to the front door of the museum from the parking area, and ramp access to the second floor. Although the outside ramp is doable for power wheelchairs, most manual wheelchair-users will need a bit assistance because of the pitch.
Exhibits include a 1910 school room, a sizable collection of Washoe baskets, and a room that honors Snowshoe Thompson, a Norwegian who delivered the winter mail in the Sierras. Add in the beautifully restored second-floor courtroom and the depressingly austere county jail, and you’ll get a well rounded overview of this wild west town.
ADA ACCESSIBILITY NOTES
ADA parking available. Outside ramp to upstairs.
Following are a few of the exhibits on display in the Courthouse.
The Washo Room: Among the collection of Native American Artifacts is a ceremonial basket woven by famed Washo basket weaver, Dat-So-La-Lee.
Fearful Crossing: Featured are a map and artifacts of the Emigrant Trail and other routes traveled by the pioneers making their way west.
Snowshoe Thompson: Commemorates Norwegian John A. “Snowshoe” Thompson (1827-1876). For twenty winters, Thompson skied the mail over the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains between Genoa, Nevada and Placerville, California.
Pony Express: After only 18 months of operation (1860-1861), the Pony Express rode off into the sunset with the advent of the “talking wires”-the overland telegraph.
The Museum Bookstore is full of books pertaining to the local history, flora & fauna, mining, logging, Basque, Washo, maps, note cards, and postcards.
In 1851, John Reese established a trading post, Mormon Station, now the town of Genoa which was Nevada’s first permanent settlement. After Douglas County became part of the Nevada Territory in 1861, Genoa was named the county seat. In 1865, the Douglas County Courthouse was built. The county seat was moved to Minden in 1916, and for the next forty years the former courthouse was used as a school. The historic building was opened as the Courthouse Museum Genoa in 1969 by the Historical Society.
PET FRIENDLY NOTES
Service dogs welcome.
TIME PERIOD REPRESENTED
Pre-historic to early 1900s
