Barns with a history

Staff Reports

Visit some of Nevada's first barns and learn about the agricultural history of Carson Valley during the Douglas County Historical Society's Emigrant Trail Barn Tour, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 22.

The Barn Tour is held in May as part of Historic Preservation Month. This year's featured barns are along or near the Carson River Route of the Emigrant Trail and were built by early settlers of Carson Valley.

Tickets are $15 for historical society members and $20 for nonmembers. The annual self-guided barn tour is a fundraiser for the Douglas County Historical Society.

Carson Valley's timber-framed barns were so well-made that many remain useful after 100 or more years.

A generation ago almost every ranch had a dairy herd, beef cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, chickens and turkeys. Though the barns are connected to a family ranch, many are no longer used for their original purpose. Today they provide storage for farm equipment and household items.

Admission price includes a lecture and slide presentation on the Carson River route of the Emigrant Trail, and entrance to the Genoa Courthouse Museum and Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center.

Tickets may be purchased at 782-2555 or at the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center in Gardnerville, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.