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Photo image of Mormon Station State Historic Park in Nevada

In the spring of 1850, the DeMont-Beatie-Blackburn party, a group of about 80 Mormons from Salt Lake City, headed for the gold fields of California. When they reached the Carson Valley, they "concluded to start a station for trade" and built a large log blockhouse at the north end of present-day Genoa, Nevada.

This station conducted a lively trade, supplying food, supplies, and fresh livestock, at a steep price, to emigrant parties bound for California on the Carson Route. On July 2, 1850, David Wooster came to "...the site the Mormons have fixed up for a new settlement. They are building a large block house at the base of the mountain where there is plenty of timber, two miles from the river bank . . . They are selling beef and other supplies to the emigrants at two dollars per pound."

A later station has been reconstructed by Nevada State Parks. The old post office in Genoa was used as the Pony Express station.The building was razed years ago, and the site is now a vacant lot, just south of the courthouse. The livery stable across the street supplied riders with fresh horses. That site is now the picnic area for Mormon Station State Park. The park has a museum with exhibits inside a replica of the old trading post.

Mormon Station is located in the small town of Genoa, 12 miles south of Carson City via U.S. 395 and State Route 206.

Mormon Station State Historic Park
Genoa, NV 89411
Tel: (775) 782-2590

More California NHT sites:

1. Ash Hollow Complex/Windlass Hill - Lewellen, Nebraska
2. Chimney Rock - Bayard, Nebraska
3. Scotts Bluff National Monument/Mitchell Pass - Scotts Bluff, Nebraska
4. Fort Laramie - Fort Laramie, Wyoming
5. Independence Rock - Natrona County, Wyoming
6. Devil's Gate - Natrona County, Wyoming
7. South Pass - Fremont County, Wyoming
8. City of Rocks Complex - Almo, Idaho
9. Mormon Station - Genoa, Nevada
10. Sutter's Fort - Sacramento, California

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