Carson weatherman gets his due

Carson City weatherman and scientist Charles W. Friend will be honored with a plaque on the site of his former home.

Workers from the State Buildings and Grounds Division finished pouring the base for the plaque on Wednesday and plan to install it on Monday.

The monument is across Stewart Street from the Nevada State Library & Archives. It was once the location of Friend's observatory and his home.

"We don't want to forget some of our pioneers and the people who made Carson City unique," said Bob Nylen, historical curator of the Nevada State Museum. "We wanted to mark a site people drive by every day."

A park on the site was dedicated as part of last year's Nevada Day celebrations.

"When you watch the weather and they refer to records kept in the 1890s, that's Charles Friend," Nylen said.

Friend died in 1907 after keeping track of the weather in Carson City for decades.

"Many people who were alive then remember him as the local jeweler, but he was a true scientist," Nylen said.

Friend had students and assistants who helped him with the observatory and his weather recording.

"Once a student was looking through the telescope and saw what he thought was a comet," Nylen said. "He ran over to the house and woke Friend up. Friend came over to see and found out the student saw the new light on the Capitol dome. Friend has some choice words in German for the student."

After Friend's death the telescope, which was borrowed from the Naval Observatory in 1867, was returned.

"The rest of his instruments were offered to the university, but there was no money to purchase them," Nylen said.

The observatory was torn down sometime between 1907 and 1941, according to State Archivist Guy Rocha.

"His wife died in 1924," Rocha said. "My supposition is that it was taken down after the property passed out of the family's hands."

The home was torn down in 1965, when the state purchased property on the east side of town to expand.

The park site is now a stop on the Charles W. Friend trail conducted by the Carson City Preservation Coalition, who Nylen said was instrumental in getting the plaque.

The Bretzlaff Foundation is paying for the plaque. Nylen also credited the State Historic Preservation Office for help in obtaining the monument.