Welcome to Lyon County!

Lyon County was one of the nine original counties created in 1861. It was named after Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union General to be killed in the Civil War. Its first County Seat was established at Dayton on November 29, 1861, which had just changed its name from Nevada City in 1862, and which had been called Chinatown before that. After the Dayton Court House burned down in 1909, the seat was moved to Yerington in 1911. The first transcontinental railroad ran through this county.

The Virginia and Truckee Railroad, one of the most famous short lines in American history, ran through this county. It was incorporated on March 5, 1868 by the "Bank Crowd" to serve the mines of the Comstock. A railroad was deemed necessary because of the high cost of freighting goods by wagon into and out of Virginia City, and the need to carry ore to the mills along the Carson River.

The Comstock region posed peculiar problems for railroad construction because of its difficult terrain. Isaac ("Ike") James was selected as its surveying and construction engineer. The building of the Virginia and Truckee proved to be a remarkable achievement. James held the grade to a maximum of 2.2 per cent as the railroad descended 1,600 feet in thirteen and a half miles from Virginia City to reach the mills along the Carson River. To achieve this, the track had to make the equivalent of seventeen complete circles. Most of the work was done by Chinese labor. The initial twenty-one miles from Virginia City to Carson City was completed on November 29, 1869. The construction to a terminus at Reno, thirty-one additional miles, finally connected the Comstock to the transcontinental Central Pacific Railroad on August 24, 1872.

There are two incorporated place in Lyon County, Fernley and Yerington, which is the county seat. Other places in the county include Dayton, Hazen, Mason, Silver City, Silver Springs, Smith, Stagecoach, Wabuska and Weed Heights.

Part of the Toiyabe National Forest is located within Lyon County.

Census and other Links


Washoe County - north; Storey County - northwest; Churchill County - east; Douglas County - west; Carson City - west; Mineral County- southeast;
Mono County, California - southwest



Sources

Wikipedia
onlinenevada.org
NACO/FindACounty


The background tartan in the footer logo is the Nevada State Tartan, adopted in 2001.


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