Where Nevada Began

Where Nevada Began. Dayton's History. , Dayton (known as Chinatown 1857-1861) , Dayton is the site of Nevada's first gold discovery (1849) and the state's first permanent Euro-American settlement, founded after miners created a tent town at the mouth of Gold Cañon in 1851. Initially called Ponderer's Rest, the town was named Chinatown after 150 Chinese workers arrived in 1857 to dig a water ditch from the Carson River to mining operations in Gold Cañon. The ditch project was the first significant construction project in the state. Dayton became a milling center, processing ore from Virginia City's rich silver and gold mines at mills on the Carson River., In 1861, Dayton was named for town surveyor John Day and became the county seat of Lyon County in the newly created Nevada Territory. A year later, in 1862, the town was ranked the third-largest community in the territory. By 1865, Dayton had seven hotels, five saloons, three grocery stores, one brewery, three lumberyards, a military unit, farming and ranching operations that produced well for the region, and a schoolhouse. Mining waned, and by 1880 Dayton's population had dropped to 200., Today, the Dayton area is one of the fastest-growing communities in the nation., [sidebar] Dayton's History, Welcome to Dayton's Historic Sector. , In 1849, a pack train of Mormons traveling to California's goldfields camped near what is today the town of Dayton while waiting for the Sierra snow to melt. Their guide, Abner Blackburn, discovered Nevada's first gold at the mouth of the canyon. News spread to California. By 1851, hundreds of gold-seekers had swarmed into Gold Canon, where a tent city grew and ultimately became the town that was formally named Dayton in 1861., Blackburn's gold find led to the discovery of the Comstock Lode in Virginia City in 1859, then to the creation of the Nevada Territory in 1861, and finally to statehood for Nevada in 1864., Take a trip back in time: Close your eyes. Imagine it is 1853. Dayton's Pike and Main Streets are dusty overland emigrant trails teeming with pioneers, some on horseback, others on foot or riding atop oxen-drawn covered wagons; many of them had traveled nearly 2,000 miles on their trek toward California., Dayton's rousing history is revealed through photographs and narrative on five historical kiosks located around town and in the Dayton Museum. (See their locations below.), Dayton’s Historical Highlights: , . Home to Native Americans for thousands of years prior to Euro-American emigration. , . Site of Nevada's first documented gold discovery in 1849 at the mouth of Gold Cañon, where Dayton began. , . Site of Nevada's first cemetery, established in the 1850s in what was then lower Carson Valley, Utah Territory. , . Nevada's earliest permanent Euro-American settlement, inhabited since at least 1851. , . Site of first Chinese settlement in Nevada, 1857. , . Site of Pony Express stop called Nevada, 1860-1861. , (See original rock wall and monument, Pike and Main Streets.) , . Lyon County's first county seat, 1861. , . America's first transcontinental interstate, the Lincoln Highway, passed through Old Town Dayton.