The town that almost became a city ...
By John Evanoff
October, 2005

Washoe City 20 miles south of Reno on Highway 395 South was once an enterprising and lively city in the new State of Nevada and was billed as the supply center for Virginia City. Virginia City was a boomtown growing steadily into a major mountain metropolis. Because of its influence and activity, in 1866, Washoe City became the County Seat of Washoe County. The mills and factories around the town were 24 hour operations during the great Comstock Lode days. Many logging communities sprang up along the Sierra hillside including Huffaker near what is now the road to Mt Rose SR431. The wagons moving timber and supplies to Virginia City stopped in Washoe City to water their mules for the trip up Jumbo Grade on the east side of Washoe Lake. Two giant mills sat in the draw to Little Washoe Lake and the mill at Ophir Creek was one of the largest in the West. Washoe City boasted a population of more than 3,000 people and at times because of the rush to Virginia City, another 2,000 people lived on it’s outskirts in tents making a living in the nearby supply warehouses and liveries. The town grew in prosperity as hotels, bars, boarding houses, schools, churches and a court house and jail were built. It even had its own weekly newspaper called the Washoe Times and was the home of one of the first Masonic Lodges in Nevada. The superbly built courthouse and jail were constructed of brick created and fired in ovens near what is now the middle of Washoe Lake. Stone was carried off Slide Mountain for the steps and the entire two buildings were constructed for a little more than $40,000, a stately sum at that time. The coming of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad over Washoe Hill and past Washoe City and into Reno began the decline of the town though. In 1871, Reno took the County Seat away from the city by forceful legislative action and within a couple of decades, the city declined to a mere handful of residents and businesses. The sides of the jail and courthouse are still standing near the site today a testament to the days when Washoe City was the seat of power for all of Washoe County and much of the region.

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