Activities, Events and Recreation
This brick building was built in 1876 as the third and final office of Nevada’s first newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise. The Enterprise was established as a weekly paper in Genoa, Nevada, in 1858 and published in Virginia City beginning in 1860. An example of vernacular 19th-century commercial style, the building was constructed with a high […]
he frame house known as the Mark Twain Boyhood Home was constructed around 1843 or 1844. The John Marshall Clemens family lived here until leaving town in 1853. Following their departure, this became a rental property. In 1911, it was scheduled for demolition to make way for a larger building. The Hannibal Commercial Club (forerunner […]
The Storey County Courthouse was built in the high Italianate style that embodies 19th-century ideals of decorative opulence as well as law and order. The first county courthouse was destroyed in the Great Fire of October 1875. Reconstruction began in 1876 and the present building, designed by the San Francisco architectural firm of Kenitzer and […]
The Piper-Beebe House is a large two-story Italianate residence constructed in 1876 by pioneer Virginia City architect-builder, A. F. Mackay. Mackay designed and built several buildings in Virginia City, but the Piper-Beebe House is the only one that remains. Built after the Great Fire of 1875, this house is representative of the elaborate homes built […]
The Henry Piper House was built immediately after Virginia City’s Great Fire of 1875 on a lot previously occupied by the smaller home of local businessman and politician Henry Piper. It is a one and one-half story Italianate row house with no doors or windows on the south side. The front façade is dominated by […]
Virginia City hosts nearly 30 of the best chili cooks in the West for the 36thannual Chili on the Comstock, all competing to win your vote for the best chili and people’s choice awards. Enjoy chili and other snacks, family-friendly activities, a Fun with the Runs 5K and the Fireball Saloon Crawl. Chili lovers rejoice […]
The mission of Liberty Engine Co. No. 1/Comstock Firemen’s Museum is to preserve, display and interpret firefighting apparatus and artifacts, and present the rich history and heritage of firefighting in Storey County with primary emphasis on Virginia City and Gold Hill, and the impact on life and culture in those communities and the state. Hours: […]
The Fourth Ward School is the last one of its kind still standing in the United States. The 1876 Second Empire, four-storied state-of-the-art wooden school preserves the real story of life in a booming Old West mining town. Built to accommodate more than 1,000 students, the sixteen classrooms retain original patina, desks, maps and books. […]
Called the most significant vintage theater in the West, Piper’s Opera House in Virginia City deserves a standing ovation for its long-standing contributions to Nevada’s rich history and culture. It is impossible to understand the real spirit of Piper’s Opera House without also looking at the era and the community in which she thrived. The […]
Explore the rich geological and cultural history of one of the great mines of the Comstock Lode! Go deep underground and discover how the miners of the Gold Rush extracted the wealth that made Virginia City famous. The gold and silver brought thousands across America to risk it all and seek their fortune. First staked […]