Genoa, Nevada

With its first permanent building built in 1850, Genoa was the first settlement in Nevada Territory. Those first settlers were Mormon traders who built a fort on the Carson Pass trail between Utah and Sacramento, California. The Mormons were recalled to Salt Lake City in 1857 because the LDS Church was worried about possible actions threatened by the U.S. Government (the Utah War - that never materialized).

Genoa was the home of Nevada's first newspaper, hotel and courthouse. And Nevada's oldest bar is the Genoa Bar, patronized in the past by folks like Johnny Cash, Teddy Roosevelt and Mark Twain. The movie "Misery" (starring Kathy Bates - and she won an Oscar for the role) was filmed in Genoa. The movie set for that one doubled the size of the town, but when they tore the set down things went back to normal. Several John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies shot scenes around Genoa, too.

Between 1856 and 1876 (when he died of pneumonia that developed after appendicitis), Snowshoe Thompson delivered the mail between Placerville, California, Genoa and Virginia City, Nevada. Many folks think he was the father of California skiing as he traveled his route in the winter on a pair of 10-foot wooden skis with a single pole held in both hands at once. He delivered the mail for 20 years, saved the lives of at least 7 people and was never paid by the postal service for his efforts. In 1866 he became an American citizen and homesteaded a 160-acre property in Diamond Valley, but he also kept carrying the mail. He was buried in the Genoa Cemetery. The statue pictured here is located at the Mormon Station State Historic Park in Genoa. Most of the original village burned down in 1910. The replica of the old traders fort at Mormon Station was constructed in 1947 and now houses the museum.

About a mile south of Genoa is an upscale resort that was originally known as Walley's Hot Springs. This is a famous natural hot springs and spa that was first developed in 1862. Today it is David Walley's Resort.