Discover Virginia City's Architectural Gems

Storey County Courthouse

  One of the best things about visiting Virginia City is admiring the 19th century architecture scattered throughout the city. Wandering the community is a chance for a visitor to view more than a dozen elegant structures built in a variety of architectural styles.

  Fortunately, the community’s tourism authority, Visit Virginia City, aided by a grant from the state promotional agency, Travel Nevada, recently released a Architectural Walking Tour brochure that can guide visitors to 16 sites in the city.

  A fun aspect of the brochure is the use of QR codes that lead the user to an audio tour of the featured buildings and sites (two of the locations are building sites where the original structures no longer exist).

  The tour begins, appropriately, with the Fourth Ward School, one of Virginia City’s most iconic buildings. Constructed in 1876 the Second Empire style, the four-story schoolhouse is the last of its kind still standing in the U.S.

  Next up is the Savage Mansion, also constructed in the Second Empire style, which was built in 1861 to serve as a residence for a mining superintendent and mine office. That’s followed by the similarly spectacular Hearst/Mackay Mansion, erected in 1860, which served a similar purpose for mining magnate George Hearst and, later, mining millionaire John Mackay. It boasts a Colonial style with Victorian flourishes.

  Other noteworthy buildings included on the tour include:

  • Storey County Courthouse, built in 1875 and rebuilt in 1876, which boasts an elaborate Italianate style with Baroque influences. The oldest continuously operating court house in the state, this building is graced with a statue of Justice that is not blindfolded like most other representations.

  • Territorial Enterprise Building, constructed in 1876, was the home of Nevada’s first newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise. Among those who worked at the Enterprise was a young Mark Twain as well as other notable writers such as Dan DeQuille and Alf Doten. The architecture of the structure is frontier style with Corinthian Capital Pillars.

  • King-McBride Mansion was originally built in 1870, burned during the Great Fire of 1875, and was rebuilt the next year. Also constructed in the Italianate style but with Greek Revival influences, this elegant house was first owned by banker George Anson King, who ran the Nevada Bank of San Francisco and was a director on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad.

  • Graves (the Castle) Mansion, constructed in 1868, is another of the city’s most recognizable buildings. It was built by Robert Graves, superintendent of the Empire Mine, who had a love for French chateau architecture. As the brochure points out, the mansion’s signature mansard roof and dormers are outstanding examples of the Second Empire style.

  • Miner’s Union Hall, erected in 1876, was originally a single-story wooden building that also burned during the 1875 fire. Its replacement, the current building, was constructed in the Baroque style. The first floor of the structure housed the union hall while the second floor was used as a library. That library, opened in 1877, was the only public library in Virginia City for many years (patrons paid 50-cents per month to use it).

  To obtain a copy of the new brochure, contact www.VisitVirginiaCityNV.com. The entire brochure can also be accessed online at: https://visitvirginiacitynv.com/architectural-walking-tour/.