Historic Carson house to become postmark

Visitors to the newly remodeled Brougher-Bath Mansion on Spear and Curry streets Dec. 14 will be treated to a special opportunity to get first look at a new U.S. Postal Service postmark depicting the house on its 100th anniversary.

"This is really a big deal for us," said Susan Ballew, president of the Carson City Historical Society.

Gov. Kenny Guinn and U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., will be issuing proclamations and Mayor Ray Masayko and Guy Rocha of the Nevada State Museum will speak during the event.

The open house and postmark ceremony will be held from 12:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in conjunction with the Victorian Home Christmas Tour held by the Historical Society.

Wilson Brougher first built the two-story mansion for $20,000 in 1903 directly behind the Arlington Hotel that once stood where the Nugget's west parking lot is today. Brougher, who struck it rich in the Tonopah Mining boom, owned the hotel at the time.

The house was threatened by fire in January 1926 by a stove pipe, but the blaze was quickly extinguished. The house was purchased by Ernest Bath in 1936. Bath was appointed postmaster of Carson City in 1935 and served for 21 years.

Relatives of the Bath family plan to attend the ceremony, Ballew said. It was well-known that Bath liked the house because he could stand on the second-floor balcony and look out to the clock tower across the way on what was then the city's post office. The building is now the Laxalt Building next to the Carson Nugget.

"He liked to look out and see and make sure the time was correct on the tower," Ballew said.

The mansion has recently undergone an extensive renovation by a private owner and will offer tours during the ceremony day.

The Postal Service will send two workers to the ceremony to issue postmarks using the Carson stamp. Visitors will be able to buy special postcards that can be canceled using the stamp that day. People can also bring their own mail to the event to have it stamped.

The postmark can also be requested after that day at the city post office and the collector stamp will be advertised nationally.

Contact Jill Lufrano at jlufrano@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.