Nevada's silver capital — Comstock Lode history, Lake Tahoe views, and the loneliest road in America
Carson City is one of the US's smallest state capitals, a compact western city at the foot of the Sierra Nevada with Lake Tahoe just 30 minutes up the hill. It's built on Comstock Lode silver money — the Nevada State Museum was literally the US Mint from 1870–93 and still has the original coin press. The Kit Carson Trail walking tour connects 60 historic buildings, and the Nevada State Railroad Museum holds the best collection of Virginia & Truckee steam locomotives in existence.
Carson City was founded in 1858 during the Comstock Lode silver rush and named after the frontier scout Kit Carson. It became Nevada's territorial capital in 1861 — the same year Nevada was admitted to the Union — partly because President Lincoln needed Nevada's electoral votes to pass the 13th Amendment. The branch US Mint operated here from 1870 to 1893, striking more than 60 million coins. The city's economy subsequently stagnated, which inadvertently preserved its Victorian-era streetscape.