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[graphic] Three Historic Nevada Cities Carson City, Reno, Virginia City A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary
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By clicking on one of these links, you can go directly to a particular section:

Links to Nevada Tourism, History and Preservation Websites
Links to Websites of Places Featured in this Itinerary
Selected Bibliography for the Three Historic Nevada Cities
Children's Literature

Links to Nevada Tourism, History and Preservation Websites

Nevada Commission on Tourism
Chaired by the Lt. Governor, the Nevada Commission on Tourism was created to enhance the competitive position of the state's tourism industry by fostering an awareness of its scenic beauty, historic and cultural attractions and recreational opportunities. Find information to help you plan your trip, lodging and activities.

Nevada State Historic Preservation Office
This state agency was created by the National Historic Preservation Act to assist citizens and government agencies in preserving important historic properties.

State of Nevada Historical Society
The Nevada Historical Society, founded in 1904, is Nevada's oldest museum; the Society also maintains a unique research library.

State of Nevada Museums
The six institutions of the Division of Museums and History serve the entire state and offer educational and interpretative programming.

Nevada State Parks
Discover the numerous state parks in Nevada, including several in the Carson-Tahoe region.

National Parks and National Historic Trails in Nevada
Great Basin National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Death Valley National Park, California National Historic Trail, and the Pony Express National Historic Trail.

Lincoln Highway Special Resource Study
The Lincoln Highway stretched 3,300-miles across the United States from New York City to San Francisco, passing through Reno on the way. The National Park Service is coordinating a comprehensive study of the routes of the Lincoln Highway.

Carson City Government
City government website, with information on the Carson City Planning and Community Development and the Carson City Historic Review Commission.

Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau
Information on lodging and actitivities in Caron City.

City of Reno
City government website, with information on the Reno Historical Resources Commission.

Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce
Information on lodging and activities in Reno.

Virginia City Convention and Tourism Authority
Information on lodging and activities in Virginia City.

Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER/)
The HABS/HAER program documents important architectural, engineering and industrial sites throughout the United States and its territories. Their collections, including a number of Nevada sites, are archived at the Library of Congress and available online. You can view these by clicking on the link above and entering the search terms "Nevada" and any of the three historic cities in the itinerary.

National Trust for Historic Preservation
Learn about the programs of and membership in the oldest national nonprofit preservation organization.

National Park Service Office of Sustainable Tourism
National Parks have been interwoven with tourism from their earliest days. This website highlights the ways in which the National Park Service promotes and supports sustainable, responsible, informed, and managed visitor use through cooperation and coordination with the tourism industry.

National Scenic Byways Program
This website, maintained by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, includes information on state and nationally designated byway routes throughout America based on their archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic qualities. Visit the America’s Byways Lake Tahoe - Eastshore Drive website for more ideas.

Links to Websites of Places Featured in this Itinerary

Nevada State Railroad Museum (The Dayton, Inyo and Wabuska Railroad Station)
Carson Brewing Company
University of Nevada, Reno
Fleischmann Atmospherium Planetarium
Territorial Enterprise

Selected Bibliography for the Three Historic Nevada Cities

Angel, Myron, ed. History of Nevada, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Berkeley: Howell-North, 1881.

Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of Nevada, 1540-1888. Reprint. Las Vegas:Nevada Publications, 1981.
Originally published in 1890 by History of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming, History Company, San Francisco, Bancroft interviewed some of Nevada's first citizens for some of the valuable information contained here; detailed information on early settlments.

Beebe, Lucius M., and Charles Clegg. Steamcars to the Comstock. Berkeley: Howell-North Books, 1957.

-------. Virginia and Truckee: A Story of Virginia City and Comstock Times. Oakland: G.H. Hardy, 1949.

Bowers, Michael Wayne. The Sagebrush State: Nevada's History, Government, and Politics. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1996.

Carman, Dorothy Walworth. Reno Fever. New York: Ray Long and Richard R. Smith, Inc., 1932. One of the better Reno divorce novels of its time, full of local color.

Chambers, S. Allen, Jr., and Harley J. McKee. The Architecture of Carson City, Nevada. Selections from the Historic American Buildings Survey, Number 14. Washington: HABS/OAHP/NPS/DOI, 1973.

Drury, Wells. An Editor on the Comstock Lode. Palo Alto: Pacific Books, 1948.
This contains dozens of vignettes of life "on the Comstock," highlighting some of the area's more notable individuals.

Dwyer, Richard A. and Richard E. Lingenfelter. Dan De Quille, The Washoe Giant. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1990.
Includes a biography of "Nevada's most popular writer in the nineteenth century" based in Virginia City during the boom years, who trained young Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) in the art of journalism. This also includes an anthology of De Quille's writings on the Comstock, sometimes factual, more often fictional, but always humorous.

Elliot, Russell R. History of Nevada. 2nd ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987.
A broad range of Nevada's historical topics are discussed.

Gigli, Jane Green. Dat So La Lee, Queen of the Washoe Basketmakers. Nevada State Museum Anthropological Papers No. 16. Carson City: Nevada State Museum, 1974.

Glass, Mary Ellen, and Al Glass. Touring Nevada: A Historic and Scenic Guide. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1983.

Hulse, James W. The Silver State: Nevada's Heritage Reinterpreted. 2nd. ed. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1998.
A broad range of Nevada's historical topics are discussed.

James, Ronald M. Temples of Justice: County Courthouses of Nevada. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1994.
Provides architectural and social history for the construction of Nevada's county courthouses. Provides in-depth discussions of the Ormsby, Storey and Washoe county courthouses.

--------. The Roar and The Silence: A History of Virginia City and the Comstock Lode. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1998.
Information pertaining to the early period in northern Nevada, leading up to the discovery of gold on the Comstock in 1859.

James, Ronald M., and C. Elizabeth Raymond, eds. Comstock Women: The Making of a Mining Community. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1998.

James, Ronald M. Virginia City: Secrets of a Western Past. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2012.
Synthesizes three decades of working with the Virginia City National Historic Landmark, dealing with its buildings, landscape, and archeology.

Kneiss, Gilbert H. The Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Boston: Railway Locomotive Historical Society, 1938.

Land, Barbara, and Myrick Land. A Short History of Reno. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1995.

Martin, Don W. Nevada Discovery Guide: A Remarkably Useful Travel Companion for Motorists, Rivers and Other Explorers. Columbia, California: Pine Cone Press, 1997.

Miller, Max. Reno. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1941.
Unusual book by journalist Max Miller that mixes fact with fiction regarding Reno's history, particularily the divorce trade.

Nicoletta, Julie. Buildings of Nevada. Society of Architectural Historians, Buildings of the United States. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
An all-inclusive volume of important buildings in Nevada, with short descriptions of each.

Oldham, Willa. Carson City: Nevada's Capital City. Genoa, NV: Desk Top Publishers, 1991.

Toll, David W. The Complete Nevada Traveler: A Guide to the State. Gold Hill, Nevada: Gold Hill Publishing, 1981.

Townley, John M. Tough Little Town on the Truckee; History of Reno Series. Reno: Great Basin Studies Center, 1983

Twain, Mark. Mark Twain's Virginia City: Nevada Territory. Silverthorne, CO: Vistabooks, 1983.

Wren, Thomas, ed. History of the State of Nevada, its Resources, and People. New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1904.

Writers' Program, Works Project Administration. The WPA Guide to 1930s Nevada: Nevada Writers' Project of the Works Project Administration. Reprint. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1991.
Originally published in 1940 by Binfords and Mort, Portland, OR.

Children's Literature

Levinson, Nancy Smiler. Snowshoe Thompson An I Can Read Book. New York: Harpercollins Juvenile Books, 1992.

Gibson, Karen Bush. Nevada Facts and Symbols. The States and Their Symbols. Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2003.

Heinrichs, Ann. Nevada. This Land Is Your Land. Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point Books, 2003.

Kelso, Mary J. A Virginia City Mystery. Fernley, NV: Markel Press, 1992.

McLuskey, Krista. Nevada. Kid's Guide to American States. Mankato, MN: Weigl Publishers, 2001.

Sirvaitis, Karen. Nevada. 2nd ed. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Company, 2003.

Stein, R. Conrad. Nevada. America the Beautiful, Second Series. 2nd ed. New York: Children's Book Press, 2000.
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 [graphic] link to Carson City Essay
[graphic] link to Reno Essay [graphic] link to Virginia City Essay

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