The Carson City Post Office is a historic building in

Carson City, Nevada Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the sixth largest city in Nevada. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on the ...

built from 1888 to 1891. It was designed by architect Mifflin E. Bell. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It is significant as the second federal building built in Nevada (the earliest federal building in Nevada is the Carson City Mint), and the only one of its architectural style, which is

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

. with It served as a

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada from 1891 to 1965.Federal Judicial Center Historic Federal Courthouses page for Carson City, Nevada
/ref> In 1999 it was renamed the Paul Laxalt State Building for former Nevada Governor Paul Laxalt, and now houses the

Nevada Commission on Tourism Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, t ...

. Bell, a Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, was the initial architect, while work was completed under Supervising Architect successors Will Frost and James Windrum.

History and Context

The United States Senate proceeded with a bill allocating $100,000 to construct a public building in the city of Carson, Nevada on January 5, 1885. The responsible senators for this allocation are

William Morris Stewart William Morris Stewart (August 9, 1827April 23, 1909) was an American lawyer and politician. In 1964, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Personal Stewart was born in Wayne County ...

and

James W. Nye James Warren Nye (June 10, 1815 – December 25, 1876) was an American attorney and politician. He was most notable for his service as Governor of Nevada Territory and a United States senator from Nevada. Biography He was born in DeRuyter, N ...

. On 278th page of his remembrances, Stewart reports, “prevented the conversion of the Mint into a public building and secured mandatory legislation with an appropriation for the construction of the present Government Building at the capital.” Afterwards, from Carson City, some citizens were nominated as a panel for picking a perfect place for the building. A prolonged search took the panel to a site at the city of Reno which was available at $30,000. After around three years, the work of construction began. When the building was completed, it housed the United States District Court, Land Office, Weather Bureau and the Carson City Post Office. Altogether, 16 rooms were occupied by different organizations. This building had the earliest and sole

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

of Carson City. It was roughly 106 feet high from the street level. The washrooms of the building were customized in 1908. Also the first elevator of Carson City was installed in this building in 1935. The 1955 upgrade of the building included the removal of the

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

, the insertion of a brick loadin
dock
at the back and the expansion of the

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick stew ...

. This building stopped serving as the Post Office in 1971, the Post Office shifted to a new establishment 2 blocks to the north-east. Scarcely any change has been done to the building since 1972. The building looks almost the same as it looked a hundred years ago.

References

External links

Romanesque Revival architecture in Nevada Government buildings completed in 1891 Nevada State Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Carson City, Nevada Post office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Nevada Former federal courthouses in the United States Buildings and structures in Carson City, Nevada Courthouses in Nevada {{Nevada-NRHP-stub