Craig Wilcox of Wilcox Insurance Group gives the thumbs up at the April 17 Business Showcase in Gardnerville.
With new owners announced for two of the older businesses in the county, it’s a good time to reflect on Carson Valley’s mercantile history.
The new restaurant in the former Carson Valley Country Club opened last week, around about the same time news that a new owner had been found for the Genoa Country Store.
Last week, the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce celebrated 10 years hosting the Business Showcase in the Douglas County Community & Senior Center.
With 50 businesses and agencies, the Showcase celebrated the outdoors, something that draws many people to Western Nevada.
It’s that combination of outdoor activities that has driven some of the Valley’s most successful businesses over the years.
Genoa is home to Nevada’s oldest continuous business district with the Genoa Bar dating back to 1851, when being outdoors was more of a necessity than a vacation preference. The town served along the Emigrant Trail in its early days. These days, it serves as Carson Valley’s main tourist attraction, so getting the Country Store back in action will be a welcome addition.
Gardnerville was also founded as a commercial center, with stages and draft wagons rolling through bearing supplies south to the Bodie gold strike and seeing the occasionally newsworthy transport of the precious metal north to the Carson Mint.
Minden was built as the Valley’s first and only railroad town in the early years of the 20th Century. There may still be a few street signs up along Highway 395 that list its local moniker Railroad Avenue to reflect the former location of the V&T Railway.
Both the old cotton warehouse and the Minden Mill remind visitors to this place of its former commercial impact.
Even though Carson Valley has grown in population and changed some, a visitor from a century ago might well be able to find their bearings through the three main business districts, though Heaven help them navigating some of the other locations.
Spring is about renewal, and we welcome the new businesses blooming in Carson Valley.