Local news items spark interest

On June 1, 1908, the Appeal's local news columns contained a variety of tidbits commonly reported at the time. The columns included a report of a baseball game, a fire and that the federal building was set to get electricity. Under the headline "Gardnerville the Victors" the Appeal reported:

The Gardnerville baseball team trounced the Carson Indian school nine at Gardnerville yesterday by a score of 11 to 4. Heavy batting won the game for Gardnerville, and both teams put up a remarkable good exhibition of clean fielding.

The Stewart Indian School served as a boarding school for more than 200 tribes of Native Americans during its 90 years of operation between 1890 and 1980. More than 300 students graduated from the school. At one time as many as 615 students attended the school.

After closing, the land and buildings were deeded to the state and are used by the state and non-profit Native American activities such as the Steward Indian School Museum.

The grounds are listed on both the state and national historic registers.

Runaway Saturday

Saturday afternoon a horse belonging to Mr. McMillan of the Arlington Hotel, took a lively spin and succeeded in doing considerable damage to the light wagon to which he was attached.

Alarm of Fire To-Day, Calls Out Fire Department and Populace. Little Damage

At about 2:30 o'clock this afternoon an alarm of fire was sounded which brought out the entire populace and for a time threatened the destruction of the house known as the Stewart property in the western portion of the city, now occupied by Capt. Cox and family in one portion and assistant engineer Van Nagell and family in the other.

The fire started in the portion occupied by Capt. Cox presumably from ashes left in a barrel near the kitchen door.

The fire department responded quickly and having an excellent stream of water did good work and soon had the fire under control. The wall, ceiling and roof of the kitchen were considerably damaged and but for the hard work of the firemen the entire building would have been destroyed.

Electric Lights Will Shine

The Reno Electrical company has been awarded the contract for wiring the Federal building in this city and tomorrow men will arrive here to begin the work.

The task of wiring the building is quite a large one and will take two or three weeks to complete the work. The building will then be lighted throughout with electricity.

This is an improvement and convenience that has been greatly needed and it was through the efforts of Mr. Hofer, custodian of the building that it was accomplished.

Electricity reached the east side of the Sierra in 1882 with the establishment of the Reno Electric Light and Power Company.

Electricity came to Carson City in 1888 replacing coal which had been used for heat and light supplied by the Carson City Coal and Gas Co.

The Carson Electric Light Co. built and maintained electric facilities in town and sold electricity to residents.

In 1899, The Truckee River General Electric Co. was created and began using the waters of the Truckee River to generate cheap power to run the mines of Virginia City sparking a second wind for the dying Bonanza.

In 1903, the Truckee electric company strung a line to Carson City and purchased the Carson Electric Light Company. They bought the coal and gas company in 1906 following this purchase with the acquisition of the Carson Light and Power Company in 1912.

By 1928, the string of electric and gas companies from Carson added to by ones from Reno, Virginia City and beyond became Sierra Pacific Power Company.

A monopoly in Nevada since then, Sierra Pacific is facing deregulation March 2000 as the new millennium begins.

The former address of Carson City's federal courts, the U.S. Post Office, Weather Bureau, Land Office and State Library is now home to the Nevada State Commission on Tourism and Nevada Magazine.

The building was named the Paul Laxalt Federal Building May 15, 1999 in honor of former U.S. Senator and Carson native Paul Laxalt. The Victorian era building is four stories of red brick. Construction began in 1888 finishing in 1891 and costing $134,605.

The building was remodeled, restored, refurbished and retrofitted to withstand earthquakes in 1997 and 1998. The clock was restored by Carson City residents Bill Hartman and Lee Carter this spring. The duo spent more than 100 hours to get it working. The clock began keeping time again for the first time in 10 years in May.

Residents, Sept. 30, 1999, began raising money to put chimes in the tower in an effort to add to the ambience of downtown.

Special thanks to Sierra Pacific Power Company for "The Spirit of Sierra, A History of Sierra Pacific Power Company."