Douglas County was one of the first nine counties formed after Congress approved an act organizing the territory of Nevada in 1861. The then-county seat, Genoa, originally named Mormon Station, was founded in 1851 and is generally considered the state's first town.
The county is named for Stephen A. Douglas, who debated Abraham Lincoln in the 1858 Illinois senate race. Douglas won the race, but the debates launched Lincoln into national fame and led to his victory for president in 1860. Portraits of the 16th president still hang in some Douglas County public buildings.
Located in the western corner of Nevada, Douglas County stretches from the middle of Lake Tahoe in the west across the Sierra Nevada's Carson Range and into the Pine Nut Mountains in the east.
East Peak in the Carson Range is the tallest mountain in the county with an elevation of 9,500 feet. The lowest point is in Carson Valley at 4,625 feet. Temperatures range from near 0 for a few weeks in winter to near 100 for a few weeks in summer. An average of 9 inches of precipitation falls during the year, most as snow during December, January and February, though it varies wildly from one year to the next.
The county occupies 751 square miles and shares boundaries with Carson City on the north and Lyon County to the east.
Three major highways pass through Douglas County. Highway 395 stretches from Southern California to Canada and is the main thoroughfare for north-south traffic through the Valley. Highway 50 runs along the edge of Lake Tahoe on its way across Nevada to Utah. Highway 88 connects Minden to Stockton across the High Sierra.
Two forks of the Carson River come together just east of Genoa and flow north into Carson City.
