Genoa is an

unincorporated town An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Douglas County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, 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. N ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Founded in 1851, it was the first settlement in what became the

Nevada Territory The Territory of Nevada (N.T.) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until October 31, 1864, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Nevada. Prior to the creation of the Nevada ...

. It is situated within

Carson River The Carson River is a northwestern Nevada river that empties into the Carson Sink, an endorheic basin. The main stem of the river is long although the addition of the East Fork makes the total length , traversing five counties: Alpine Coun ...

Valley and is approximately south of

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

. The population was 939 at the 2010 census. It is home to the oldest

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

in the state of

which opened in 1853.

History

Located within the

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

before the Nevada Territory was created in 1861, Genoa was first settled by

Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the ...

. The settlement originated as a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

called Mormon Station, which served as a respite for travelers on the Carson Route of the

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

. In June 1850, H.S. Beatie and fellow Mormons built a roofless log enclosure and corral as a trading post near a small stream. Emigrants could obtain clothing, tobacco, meat, canned goods, coffee, beans, sugar, flour and bacon. The post was abandoned later that year. In 1851, John Reese arrived in the area with horses, cattle and a dozen wagons loaded with supplies to establish a permanent trading post. By 1852, emigrant traffic thru the area was heavy and the settlement expanded. A post office opened, a blacksmith shop was built, and sawmills were built. In 1856,

Orson Hyde Orson Hyde (January 8, 1805 – November 28, 1878) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a member of the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus ...

changed the name of the community to Genoa, after the Italian city. The original

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into se ...

settlers withdrew in 1857 when they were recalled by

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as chu ...

due to the

Utah War The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the US go ...

. Genoa served as the first capital of the

in 1861, until it was moved that year to

Carson City 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 th ...

Nevada's first newspaper, the '' Territorial Enterprise'', was founded in Genoa in 1858, but moved to

Virginia City Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

in 1860. It was the site of the first ranch in Nevada. Much of Genoa, including the original fort, station, and hotel, was destroyed in a fire in 1910, but a replica of the fort was built in 1947. Every year since 1919, Genoa has held a festival called the Candy Dance, where candy, food, and crafts are sold to support its town government. The Candy Dance is usually held during the final weekend of September. Many pioneers rest in the Genoa graveyard, including

Snowshoe Thompson John Albert Thompson (born Jon Torsteinsson Rue; April 30, 1827 – May 15, 1876), nicknamed Snowshoe Thompson, an early resident of the Sierra Nevada of Nevada and California, was a Norwegian-American considered to be the father of California ...

, his wife and his son. A mile south of Genoa is David Walley's Resort, a famous natural

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

s and spa. It was first built in 1862 and known as Walley's Hot Springs. On October 1, 1934,

Baby Face Nelson Lester Joseph Gillis (December 6, 1908 – November 27, 1934), also known as George Nelson and Baby Face Nelson, was an American bank robber who became a criminal partner of John Dillinger, when he helped Dillinger escape from prison, in Crown P ...

and members of his gang arrived at Walley's Hot Springs, hiding out for a month before returning to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, where Nelson was shot by FBI agents. Scenes from the 1973 movie '' Charley Varrick'' were filmed in Genoa, and the village was the set for the 1990 movie '' Misery'', starring

Kathy Bates Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actor and director. Known for her roles in comedic and dramatic films and television programs, she has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, includ ...

, when the village doubled in size with buildings added and then removed after the filming. Food writer M. F. K. Fisher wrote a series of cookbook reviews for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' from her sister's home in Genoa during the 1960s.

Genoa Historic District

The Genoa Historic District, seven miles north of Minden, Nevada, is a portion of the community of Genoa which, as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from cer ...

was listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1975. Historically known as Mormon Station, the historic area includes

Late Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian ...

; it includes a courthouse and city hall among 29

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. and

Geography

Genoa is located on the western edge of the

Carson Valley Douglas County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of th2020 Census the population was 49,488. Its county seat is Minden. Douglas County comprises the Gardnerville Ranchos, NV Micropolitan Statistical Area, ...

, northwest of

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of De ...

, the Douglas County seat.

Nevada State Route 206 State Route 206 (SR 206) is a state highway in Douglas County, Nevada, United States. It runs northwest from State Route 88 near the California state line along Foothill Road to Genoa, and then turns east on Genoa Lane to end at U.S. Route 395. ...

enters Genoa from the south as Foothill Road, then turns east in the center of town onto Genoa Lane. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

of Genoa has a total area of , all land. File:Lincoln Highway Marker - Genoa.jpg, Road Marker on the main road in Genoa, Nevada

Climate

The area has a

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

of '' Csb'', which is a dry-summer subtropical climate often referred to as "Mediterranean".Climate Summary for Genoa, Nevada
/ref>

Demographics

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Census-designated places in Douglas County, Nevada Unincorporated towns in Nevada Pony Express stations Populated places established in 1850 Nevada State Register of Historic Places 1851 establishments in Utah Territory Victorian architecture in Nevada Historic American Buildings Survey in Nevada