Virginia City, Nevada
By: Meghan Saar 05/01/2009
Joe Curtis prides himself in living where he says the “storefronts are real, the history is free and the people are friendly.”
Joe owns the Mark Twain Bookstore in Virginia City, Nevada (pop. 1,100). He admits it’s the only bookstore in the city, besides the selection of books offered to guests staying at the 1859 Gold Hill Hotel. Given his shelves boasting local history and Western Americana books, this bookstore is the only one the city needs. Locals curious about the newspaper reporter whose time here in 1861-64 led him to adopt his famous pen name can also stop by the bookstore and find all the works by Mark Twain.
In fact, locals who want to know anything about Virginia City’s history usually pay a visit to see Joe. The Victorian ladies, the Civil War soldiers and the cowboys who roam the boardwalks in times of good weather are all docents who learned the city’s history from him.
To find out what it is like to live in this national historic district, we, of course, asked Joe.
What’s the latest gossip? People are excited that this summer, the Virginia & Truckee Railway is due to operate special runs of its steam train to the end of the track, around American Flat.
Good Cowboy Bar: The Bucket of Blood Saloon; the Comstock Cowboys play Western music there on weekends.
Favorite Local Cuisine: The Café Del Rio on C Street offers Tex-Mex cuisine and one of the best scratch cheeseburgers you will get anywhere.
Best Art Gallery of the West: Garrels ’n’ Rose Art Gallery. TJ and TJ, which is convenient for remembering both of their names, are wonderful artists who create spectacular scenes of the West, Virginia City, cowboys and trains.
Best Spot to View Wildlife: Wild horses are the main attraction. The highways leading into Virginia City from Reno or Carson City provide views of the horses as they graze with their young.
Old West Attraction: The Way It Was Museum provides a look at the mining history of the Comstock that you won’t find anywhere else in northern Nevada.
Event to Attend in June: The 150th celebration of the founding of gold on the Comstock Lode will be held on June 5-7.
Best Time of the Year: May to November brings us tourists and special events to enjoy. The winter is quiet. Locals huddle up and visit with each other and a few straggling skiers from Lake Tahoe.
Avg. Temperature: Summer ranges from 90s-50s, with winter at 40s-10s.
Avg. House Cost: $250,000.
Who knows Virginia City’s history best? If I don’t have the answer, then local historian Chic DiFrancia probably does.
Preservation Project: Piper’s Opera House, built in 1885 and still holding regular performances, is continually being preserved and restored.
Special thanks to local historian Joe Curtis, owner, along with his wife Ellie, of the Mark Twain Bookstore, for sharing his love of the town with us.
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