A Peek at Nevada's Mighty Mountain Peaks

 

   The late David W. Toll—one of the state’s most gifted wordsmiths—once described the mountains of Central Nevada as being “like sleeping women, sprawling languorously across every horizon.”

   He might well have been writing about any of the more than 300 ranges found in the state.

  Nevada’s many mountains have long fascinated people. Another author, John McPhee, wrote an entire book about them, “Basin and Range.” In it, he noted that “each range here is like a warship standing on its own, and the Great Basin is an ocean of loose sediment with these mountain ranges standing in it as if they were members of a fleet without precedent, assembled at Guam to assault Japan.”

  The mountains of Nevada not only give the state its name—Nevada is Spanish for “snow-covered”—but also help define its character. Nevada is the most mountainous state in the union and is home to at least 42 peaks higher than 11,000 feet.

  The following are a few facts about some of Nevada’s mountains, which, for differing reasons, have interesting stories.

   For example, In Humboldt County, on the edge of the Black Rock Desert, you can find King Lear Peak, which has an elevation of 8,923 feet. King Lear Peak was named after the main character of the Shakespeare play of the same name—although no one is quite sure why.

   The playwright himself also earned his own mountain as you’ll find Shakespeare Point, a 7,093-foot peak, near, not surprisingly, Lake Tahoe’s famous Shakespeare Rock, a cliff face said to resemble the bard.

   A name of a decidedly less literary bent is the bizarrely-named Toe Jam Mountain in Elko County. As to why such a descriptive moniker was bestowed on this particular mountain isn’t known, we do know that it is located in the Tuscarora Range and has an elevation of 7,123-feet.

   It’s also interesting to note that Toe Jam Creek—perhaps someone should bottle water under that label—runs just below the peak.

   Another unusual name for a mountain is Auto Hill, located in the Buckskin Mountains of Humboldt County. Measuring 6,650 feet, Auto Hill’s name reflects the general theme of landmarks in this vicinity, which are generally named after cars and car parts.

   The reason is that the prospector who discovered gold in the area in 1907, Jesse Workman, drove a National automobile. He named his original claim, the National mine, in honor of his trusty vehicle.

   Later, a town by that name cropped up, and Workman began naming other stuff with car-related names including Radiator Hill and mines with names like Fender, Starter, Brake, Headlight, Transmission, High Speed and Low Speed.

   The tallest peak entirely located in Nevada is 13,065-foot Wheeler Peak, which is located in the Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. While another mountain, Boundary Peak in the White Mountains of western Nevada, is higher at 13,143-feet, a portion of it extends into California.

   Wheeler Peak was named after Lt. George Wheeler, who, in 1869, led a U.S. Army mapping expedition to the summit. Am earlier explorer had named the mountain “Jeff Davis Peak,” after then-Secretary of War Jefferson Davis but the name fell out of favor after Davis became the leader of Confederacy during the Civil War.

   Some have described Nevada as God’s Country and that’s certainly true of the magnificent Jarbidge Wilderness Area, north of Elko. One of the peaks found in the Jarbidge Range is named God’s Pocket Peak, which measures 10,184 feet—high enough to feel downright celestial.

   Winning the award for most obvious name is Hole in the Mountain, located in Elko County’s East Humboldt Range, southwest of Wells. There, you’ll find not only Hole in the Mountain (the mountain), which is 11,127 feet, but also Hole in the Mountain Peak at 11,306 feet. Locals also refer to it as Lizzie’s Window.

   Occasionally, ordinary folks are honored with their own mountains. Perhaps that’s why in Nevada you can find Bill’s Peak (8,113 feet), Joe’s Peak (5,956 feet), Jim’s Peak (6,090 feet), Kate Peak (6,120 feet), Ed’s Hill (6,645 feet), and Maggie Peak (6,272 feet). I couldn’t find a Rich’s Peak, but hope springs eternal.

   Mountain names also can be quite literal. In Humboldt County, you’ll find Little Peak, which is 6,634 feet, as well as two Big Mountains (one is 8,594 feet and the other is 6,949 feet). Fortunately, both are taller than Little Peak.

   Perhaps the two most descriptive mountain name in the state would have to be Old Man of the Mountain, a peak in Elko County that is 7,068 feet high, and, presumably looks old.

   A close second in the name contest might be the two different peaks in Nevada named, respectively, The Nipple. They’re not located in the same place so the name can’t be plural.

   Still, maybe that’s what David Toll had in mind.

Get Trivial About Clark County and Las Vegas

The Golden Gate in downtown Las Vegas is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the city.

  One constant about Las Vegas is that nothing is constant. Las Vegas is a city that thrives on change. It’s a place where the skyline is different almost every time you visit.

  Of course, all that means is that sometimes it takes a bit of effort to learn about the community’s history, which is pretty fascinating. With that in mind, the following are a handful of trivia questions about Las Vegas that are designed to help make you an expert of all things Vegas.

Q: What does Las Vegas mean?

A: It is a Spanish word meaning “the meadows.” Traders on the Old Spanish Trail, which passed through that part of Southern Nevada, are believed to have given the name to the area because of the presence of natural springs and grass. It first appeared in writing in explorer John C. Frémont’s report of his 1844 expedition through the region.

Q: What was the name of the first post office opened in the Las Vegas area?

A: The first non-Indian settlement in the valley was the Las Vegas Mission (or Mormon Fort), established in 1855 by missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On August 1, 1855, a post office was opened, which was named Bringhurst, in honor of William Bringhurst, one of the leaders of the settlement. The post office closed September 22, 1860.

Q: What percentage of Nevada’s population lives in Clark County (Las Vegas and surrounding area)?

A: According to the last census, Clark County accounts for some 74 percent of Nevada’s total population, with 2.292 million residents. By comparison, the state’s smallest county is Esmeralda, which boasts 743 residents.

Q: How many marriage licenses were issued last year in Clark County?

A: Typically, about 77,000 marriage licenses are issued each year in Clark County, with Valentine’s Day being the busiest marrying day.

Q: What Clark County community holds the state record for hottest temperature on record?

A: Laughlin, located about 90 miles south of Las Vegas, is the state’s hottest place. The highest recorded temperature was 125 degrees in Laughlin on June 29, 1994.

Q: Where is the largest wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states?

A: The Desert Wildlife Refuge, which stretches about 1.5 million acres in Southern Nevada. The refuge, which is home to more bighorn sheep (about 1,500) than any other place in the world, encompasses the Desert, Las Vegas, Pintwater and Sheep mountain ranges.

Q: About how many people visit Las Vegas each year?

A: Every year, an estimated 41 million visitors descend on Las Vegas to enjoy its attractions.

Q: What is the oldest continuously operating hotel and casino in Las Vegas?

A: The venerable Golden Gate in downtown Las Vegas is the oldest. It opened in 1906 as the Hotel Nevada.

Q: Who named the Las Vegas Strip and why?

A: That honor goes to Guy McAfee, a former Los Angeles police officer, who headed the city’s vice squad for a time—while also indulging in some vice-full activities like owning an illegal casino. In 1939, he relocated to Las Vegas and acquired the Pair O’ Dice Club on Highway 91 (the main road between Las Vegas and Los Angeles). He is recognized as the first person to designate the casino-lined Highway 91, “the Las Vegas Strip,” after Los Angeles’ famous Sunset Strip. The name obviously stuck.

Q: How large is Clark County in terms of acreage?

A: The county encompasses 8,061 square miles, of which 7,891 square miles is land and 169 square miles is water. It is the sixth largest county in Nevada.

Discovering Asa Fairfield's Pioneer History of Lassen County and Early Nevada

Pioneer Asa Fairfield

  One of the best things about researching and writing regularly about a place like Nevada is learning about a book or a resource you had not seen before (or perhaps knew about but just had never had an opportunity to read or see).

  Such was the case recently, when I was reading comments on a Facebook group about ghost towns and saw the mention of an early Lassen County pioneer named Asa Merrill Fairfield.

  For some reason, I was not familiar with Fairfield and did not know he had written one of the earliest histories of Lassen County, which included a pioneer history of the state of Nevada.

  Bearing the lengthy title, “Fairfield’s Pioneer History of Lassen County, California; Containing everything that can be learned about it from the beginning of the world to the year of Our Lord 1870 . . . Also much of the pioneer history of the state of Nevada . . . the biographies of Governor Isaac N. Roop and Peter Lassen . . . and many stories of Indian warfare never before published,” the work was published in 1916.

  The author, Asa Fairfield, who was born in Massachusetts in 1854, but moved with his family to Illinois in 1855. Two years later, the family again relocated, this time to Iowa, where they lived for four years.

  In 1865, with his father in ill health, Fairfield’s family moved to Honey Lake, California, located about 90 miles northwest of Reno, where his mother had family. Four years later, the family returned to Iowa, where Fairfield completed his schooling and became a teacher.

  In the fall of 1873, the family moved back to Honey Lake, where Fairfield took a position teaching at the Janesville School. He would continue to teach at various schools in the region until 1899.

  In about 1909, Fairfield began work on a pioneer history of Lassen County. Over the next six years, he interviewed the few remaining pioneer settlers in the county to save their stories.

  The result was a 563-page volume, which Fairfield self-published, that traced the development of the Lassen Trail, one of the branches of the Emigrant Trail, as well as the white settlement of the Honey Lake-Susanville area.

  Later chapters dealt with the creation of the Nevada Territory—Honey Lake was once considered part of Nevada—and the politics surrounding its creation, as well as the troubled relationship between settlers and the native people who originally lived in the region.

  In his book, which is arranged chronologically, Fairfield also described Peter Lassen’s death, the development of Susanville, and the 1860 Battle of Pyramid Lake, during which Major William Ormsby of Carson City was killed.

  The Lassen County Historical Society website describes Fairfield as a “very well-known man in Honey Lake Valley. He was well respected, and by all accounts a proper gentleman of his time. Many people named their children in his honor.”

  Fairfield died in Susanville on September 12, 1926 at the age of 72. He is buried in Lassen County’s Janesville Cemetery, in the valley where he spent most of his life.

  Fortunately, Fairfield’s book is in public domain and can be viewed (and downloaded) on several websites, including Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/fairfieldspionee01fair.

  Additionally, reprints of his book are available on Amazon and other online book sites.

Reno Has Close Links to Acclaimed L.A. Architect Paul R. Williams

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, also known as the Lear Theater, is one of a handful of buildings in Reno designed by prominent African-American architect Paul R. Williams.

  Most histories of trailblazing architect Paul Revere Williams focus on the many buildings and homes he designed in the Los Angeles area. It’s not surprising since Williams, who lived most of his life there, designed such iconic properties as the Los Angeles County Courthouse and the spider-like, futuristic Theme Building at the Los Angeles International Airport.

  Additionally, Williams was in high demand among the Hollywood crowd, designing homes for Frank Sinatra, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Lucille Ball, Barbara Stanwyck, and many others.

  But Williams, who was the first African-American member of the prestigious American Institute of Architects, also designed a handful of buildings in the Reno area (as well as several in Las Vegas).

  His first job in the Biggest Little City was in 1934, when he designed a duplex at 599 California Avenue, known as the Luella Garvey House, after its original owner.

  Garvey, the widow of manufacturing magnate Clayton H. Garvey (a co-founder of U.S. Steel), had come to Reno in 1927 to obtain a divorce from her second husband (Garvey, her first, had died in 1925). She liked the community and decided to build a home there while continuing to live part of the year in Southern California.

  Apparently familiar with Williams’ work, she hired the architect to design a two-story, white Classical Revival-style duplex with French Regency and landscaping. Built at a cost of more than $40,000, the house was the most expensive home ever built in Reno up to that time.

  Following her death in 1942, the home was purchased by Reno gaming boss Nathan “Nick” Abelman and his wife. Abelman had gotten his start running casinos in Goldfield and Tonopah in the early 20th century, before relocating to Reno to operate several gambling establishments.

  The Abelmans owned the home until 1978 (Nick died in 1951 and his widow, June, continued to live in it until her death in 1978), when it was sold and converted into a single home.

  In addition to the Garvey House, Williams was called upon to design the Rafael Herman home, a Classical Revival-style house that is now part of Rancho San Rafael Regional Park.

  Constructed in 1936, the structure was commissioned by Raphael Herman, his brother Norman Herman, and Norman’s wife, Mariana. The wealthy Herman family had acquired the 300-acre cattle ranch in early 1936 in order to establish Nevada residency, and take advantage of the state’s favorable tax laws.

  The house boasts 18 rooms, to accommodate the Hermans and their full staff when visiting, although it doesn’t look that large from the outside. Today it services as meeting rooms for the park.

  A year later, Williams was hired to design 15 prefabricated steel housing units, known as the El Reno Apartments. The cluster was originally located at 1307 South Virginia Street to serve as short-term housing for those coming to Nevada to obtain a six-week divorce.

  About a decade later, Roland “Joe” Giroux, who owned the complex, decided to sell off the individual units, which were relocated to other neighborhoods in the city. One of the best preserved is at 711 Mount Rose Street.

  Perhaps the most ambitious Williams project in the Biggest Little City was the First Church of Christ, Scientist at 501 Riverside Drive, now known as the Lear Theater.

  Completed in 1939, the structure, which cost $140,000, was built in a Neoclassical Revival style with large columns and a double-curved portico. It was large enough to accommodate 600 people.

  The church remained in use until 1998, when the congregation relocated to a newer facility. That same year, local philanthropist Moya Lear purchased the building and donated it to a nonprofit group, the Reno-Sparks Theater Coalition, to preserve and use as a performing arts theater.

  The coalition, however, was unable to raise sufficient funds to renovate the former church and, in 2011, it was deeded to Artown, a nonprofit group that sponsors a month-long arts and events celebration in July. In 2021, the city of Reno purchased the site and adjacent parking lot and is still determining what to do with the historic building.

  Interestingly, many historic surveys credit Williams with designing a fifth project in Reno, the Loomis Manor Apartments on Riverside Avenue, but there is some disagreement about whether he was the architect on that development.

  Born in Los Angeles in 1894, Williams studied at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design and the University of Southern California before embarking on a successful career as an architect.

  During the course of his long career, Williams designed more than 2,500 buildings. He retired in 1973 and died in Los Angeles in 1980. In 2020, he was the subject of a PBS documentary, “Hollywood’s Architect,” which can be viewed at: https://www.pbs.org/video/hollywoods-architect-3prwsa/.

  A good comprehensive guide to Williams’ Reno work can be found on historian Alicia Barber’s excellent website: https://renohistorical.org/tours/show/16.

Lake Tahoe's Scandinavian Castle: Vikingsholm

 

View of Emerald Bay from Vikingsholm

  Tucked into the tall pines overlooking beautiful Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe is Vikingsholm, a place fit for a king—or at least a Viking jarl.

  Built to resemble a Scandinavian castle, Vikingsholm is, in fact, a three-story home, which was the brainchild of Lora J. Knight, a wealthy Illinois woman who erected the imposing structure as her summer home at the lake.

  Mrs. Knight was born Lora J. Small, the daughter of a successful corporation lawyer, who, in the 1880s married James H. Moore, one of her father’s partners. 

  Her husband and his business partners eventually earned their fortunes by gaining controlling interests in several major companies, including National Biscuit and the Union Pacific Railroad.

  Moore died in 1916, leaving his wife a considerable estate that included property in Illinois, Wisconsin and California.

  In the 1920s, Lora married Harry French Knight, a St. Louis stockbroker but the union was not successful and they were divorced a few years later.

  In 1928, Mrs. Knight purchased 239 acres at the head of Emerald Bay (for $250,000) and began planning her special summer hideaway. She hired Lennart Palme, a noted Swedish architect and her nephew, to design the house with a Scandinavian influence.

  Following a trip to Scandinavia to gather ideas, Mrs. Knight authorized construction to begin in the summer of 1928. Work on the house ceased during the winter months but restarted the next spring. Amazingly, the house was completed by the end of the summer.

  The house was constructed of locally cut wood (pine and fir) and using local granite boulders and rocks that were embedded in mortar. Interior walls were hand planed and accented with delicate, hand carvings.

  The house has a wonderful handmade quality to it, which is not surprising since Mrs. Knight had 200 workers building the house. In fact, the exterior wood sections were hewn by Finnish carpenters who were brought in from New York.

  One unusual feature was the sod roof covering the buildings lining the courtyard. Grass roofs were common on Scandinavian houses so Mrs. Knight incorporated the idea in her castle.

  Mrs. Knight stayed at Vikingsholm for 15 summers, until her death in 1945. The estate was then sold to a Nevada rancher, Lawrence Holland, who later sold it to Harvey West, a lumber magnate from Placerville.

  In 1953, West agreed to donate half the appraised value of the land to the state of California in return for the state paying him the other half. The state was able to acquire most of the land surrounding Emerald Bay, including Vikingsholm for about $125,000 (half the appraised value).

  Today, visitors can park in a lot just off State Route 89 and hike one mile to the former Lora J. Knight home. The walk is peaceful as you stroll through the pines, catching glimpses of breathtaking Emerald Bay below.

  Another of Mrs. Knight’s legacies can be seen on Fannette Island in the middle of Emerald Bay. At the crown of the island, she built a picturesque, stone teahouse.

  Guided tours of Vikingsholm (the only way you can tour the house) are offered daily from June to September. Tours are offered between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (although you can hike to the house to picnic on the grounds or explore the area throughout the year). For tour information, go to: https://sierrastateparks.org/emerald-bay-state-park/vikingsholm-tours/.

  Vikingholm is located at the southwest end of Lake Tahoe, about 35 miles from Carson City via U.S. 50 and Route 89. For more information, go to: http://vikingsholm.com/

Finding Out About the Lost City

 

Lost City Pueblos (Photo courtesy of Ymblanter)

Several years ago when I was working on a book, “Mysteries and Legends of Nevada,” I compiled a list of the most enduring and unexplained stories in the Silver State.

  One of those mysteries was the fascinating tale of the Anasazi, considered among the earliest inhabitants of the place that would become Nevada. About 800 years ago, these prehistoric people just seemingly disappeared from the southeastern part of the state.

  At the peak of their civilization, which is thought to have been 1,500 to 2,000 years ago, thousands of Anasazi—although no one is quite sure what they actually called themselves—lived along the banks of the Virgin and Muddy rivers in Southern Nevada.

  The Anasazi were so sophisticated that they developed permanent settlements, including the Pueblo villages built in cliffs throughout Arizona and Colorado, learned how to cultivate a variety of crops and mined minerals such as salt.

  About eight centuries ago, however, the Anasazi just went away. They departed from their northernmost villages, including those in Nevada.

  Scholar David Roberts has written in National Geographic magazine that the Anasazi abandoned every site northwest of a diagonal line that could be hypothetically drawn between Flagstaff, Arizona, and Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

  Roberts theorizes that a combination of factors contributed to the Anasazi retreat, including the rise of a new religion—perhaps an early version of the Pueblo Indians’ kachina beliefs.

  Roberts believes that the Anasazi of places like Nevada were drawn south from their homeland to the pueblos of New Mexico by practitioners of the kachina religion, which encouraged communal living, which would have been particularly attractive to those living in the harsh Southwest where drought and famine were common.

  Today, their descendents are believed to be the members of the various Pueblo tribes in New Mexico and Colorado.

  In Nevada, a number of petroglyph sites are the primary reminders of the Anasazi period. In several places throughout the state, such as the Valley of Fire and Rainbow Canyon in Southern Nevada, you can find the rock writing that appears to be the Anasazi’s only written language.

  Although the writings, which are carved in stone, have never been translated, some archaeologists speculate that they may have related to either hunting rituals or have had religious significance.

  One of the best places to learn more about the Anasazi is the Lost City Museum, which is located in the small town of Overton, at the north end of Lake Mead.

  The main part of the museum is housed in a sun-dried, adobe brick building that was erected in 1935 by the National Park Service to exhibit artifacts discovered in Nevada. The museum was turned over to the state of Nevada in 1953 and expanded in 1973 and 1981.

  The most recent expansion, called the Faye Perkins Wing, was built atop an actual Pueblo foundation that was excavated in 1935. This archaeological site has been reconstructed in such as way as to depict the way archaeologists work at a historic location.

  The name, Lost City, was coined in the 1930s by the media, which was fascinated by the discovery of a forgotten prehistoric Indian community. Archaeologist M.R. Harrington, who supervised the initial excavation in 1924, however, named the site “Pueblo Grande de Nevada,” because of its great size.

  Many of the artifacts in the museum were collected during excavations of the area in the 1920s and 1930s. Since then, additional excavations on the banks of the lake have yielded additional information and materials.

  The Lost City site has provided valuable information about the Anasazi's transition from a nomadic desert tribe, before the time of Christ, to a more sophisticated society that built permanent settlements and planted crops.

  Displays in the museum illustrate the history of the Anasazi. For instance, the earliest residents, called the "Basketmakers," generally lived in open areas or natural shelters and created fine woven baskets from the local willows and yucca plants. Their diet consisted of plants and hunted game, like deer and rabbits, brought down with the use of an atlatl.

  Later, during the Late Basketmaker period, the people began using a bow and arrow, planting crops and building pit houses in the valley.

  That was followed by the Pueblo period, during which the people began living in above ground buildings with underground storage units. It was during this time, that the Indians began producing painted pottery and developed a social structure, religious practices, trade and crude writing.

  On the museum grounds, you can find several Pueblo-type structures, made of wattle and daub, which have been reconstructed on the original foundations. There is also a replica of a pit house, which was a covered underground dwelling.

  Exhibits display hundreds of arrowheads, baskets, atlatl (or throwing spears), skins and pottery. Additionally, one wing of the museum includes a re-creation of an ancient Anasazi village site.

  In addition to displays about the Anasazi, the museum also contains exhibits detailing the earliest white settlers in the area, starting with Mormon farmers, who began cultivating the area in the 1860s.

  The Lost City Museum is located on State Route 169 in Overton, about 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, go to: https://lostcitymuseum.org/.

Napa Valley's Old Bale Mill Survives the Ages

 

  Dr. Edward Turner Bale’s grist mill has seen a lot of changes in its more than 175 years of existence.

  Originally constructed in 1846, the mill, which boasts a 36-foot waterwheel (it was originally 20-feet in size but was enlarged a few years after it was built), was designed to grind the wheat, corn, oats and barley crops of local Napa Valley farmers. They would bring their grains to the mill to be ground and bagged.

  Today, visitors to the upper Napa Valley can still explore the mill, which has defied neglect, wildfires and other threats over the years, and was restored in the 1980s. The Bale Grist Mill is located about six miles northwest of the town of St. Helena on California Highway 29.

  The story of the mill is closely aligned with the settling of the Napa Valley region. Home to a thriving Native American population, the valley was first visited by non-native explorers in the early 1820s. In 1836, former mountain man George C. Yount became the area’s first white settler (in present-day Yountville), receiving a land grant from the Mexican government.

  At that time, nearly all of California was under the control of Mexico, which had gained its independence from Spain in 1810.

  Much of the area now known as the Napa Valley was divided into large rancheros owned by a handful of Mexican landowners, led by General Mariano Vallejo, who was the Commandante General of Alta California (which encompassed nearly all of the state of California).

  In 1839, Dr. Edward Bale, an English physician who had arrived in California two years earlier, married Maria Ygnacia Soberanes, niece of General Vallejo. Within a few years, Dr. Bale had become a citizen of Mexico and was granted the land between present-day Rutherford and Calistoga (some 17,962 acres), which he named Rancho Carne Humana.

  To support such a large ranch, Dr. Bale decided to establish the grist mill as well as a saw-mill.

  In 1848, Dr. Bale caught gold fever and left his wife, two sons and four daughters, so that he could seek his fortune in the gold fields of eastern California. Unfortunately, he became sick and died on October 9, 1849.

  Dr. Bale’s widow, Maria, who was only 27-years-old, took it upon herself to support her family. By 1850, she had either sold or lost to squatters the majority of the 17,000-acre land grant, and is listed as the owner of 1,500 acres of unimproved land and 50 improved acres.

  She was able to retain the grist mill and the saw mill, which she had expanded and enlarged in the early 1850s. The two enterprises allowed her to pay off her late husband’s debts, eventually remarry, and provide for her children.

  In 1860, one of Maria Bale’s daughters, Isadora Bruck, sold the saw mill and the grist mill. The latter, under a succession of owners, continued to operate until 1905. Over the years, a later owner, Reverend Theodore Lyman, made additional improvements so that the mill could operate when there wasn’t enough water running in the creek that powered the waterwheel.

  Lyman’s family donated the mill to the Native Sons of the Golden West in 1923, which, in 1941, deeded it to the Napa County Historical Society to maintain and preserve. In 1974, the facility and surrounding property became a California State Historic Park.

  A major renovation in the mid-80s got the grist mill up and running again, and, in 1988, it milled its first grain in more than seven decades.

  Today, the restored mill is one of the most iconic places in the Napa Valley, drawing thousands of visitors who are enchanted by the picturesque setting and the enormous wooden waterwheel

   Adjacent to the mill site is the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park (linked via trails), where visitors can picnic, hike, bike, and enjoy a public swimming pool. Additionally, the park offers private cabins for rent, yurts, tent camping sites, and RV campsites. Both facilities are operated by the Napa Open Space District in partnership with the Napa Valley State Parks Association.

  For more information about the Bale Grist Mill, go to: https://napaoutdoors.org/parks/bale-grist-mill-state-historic-park/

  For more information about Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, go to: https://napaoutdoors.org/parks/bothe-napa-valley-state-park/.