Carson City, NV

Carson City, NV is the Capital of Nevada and is about 30 miles south of Reno.  Population 55,300 with a median income of $41,800 and a median age of 39.  The majority of the population lives in Eagle Valley on the eastern edge of Carson Range.  Carson City was originally used as a stopover for California bound emigrants but it developed into a city due to the Comstock Lode, a silver strike in the mountains to the northeast of Carson City.  It has been the capital of Nevada since Nevada became a State in 1864.  For a long time it was the hub for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad.  In 1969 Carson City and Ormsby County merged and it all became Carson City which makes it boundaries extend west across the Sierra Nevada to the California State line and the middle of Lake Tahoe.  Carson City was named after Kit Carson and from 1870 to 1893  a branch of the U.S. Mint was located in Carson City.  In the late 1980s Carson City adopted a plan to clean up the downtown area and today it has stores, restaurants and casinos.
We were a little surprised when we got into the downtown area of Carson City.  I guess we expected more.  The Government buildings were very nice and well maintained but the rest of the town was just a long strip with stores and fast food restaurants.  Now that I know most of the population lives in another area of town it all makes sense.  We had lunch at a BBQ restaurant called Q's.  It was good but I did miss southern BBQ.  We did not spend much time in Carson City but the drive to and from Carson City in Sierra Nevadas was beautiful.  We went as high as 7900 ft in elevation to Carson City that sits at 4900 ft.   I am glad I had the chance to see Carson City and very happy to see more of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.