Leadership Douglas County visits Genoa Courthouse Museum

Leadership Douglas County 2023 – Tourism-Recreation Day under facilitators Maggie Vandenburg and Tamera Brewer graced the old Genoa Courthouse Museum on June 20 for a short visit.

Their interesting group had a busy day beginning at 7:30 a.m. and stopping at many places throughout the county.

The lively tour group was ushered up the historic staircase and into the elegant old Court Room with its well-used and authentic heavy, fairly dark, wooden furniture. Museum Director of Education and volunteer docent Kay Kocian presented interesting tidbits of history to the visitors. Genoa was the county seat after Douglas County was joined to the Nevada Territory. Basically, our county - or at least within its boundaries - Nevada came to be.

Docent Kay Kocian introduced the main areas in the museum. The group started with the rooms on the second floor. After the Court Room came Snowshoe Thompson’s impressive exhibit followed by a turn of the century kitchen with its authentic items including a pumping two-person vacuum cleaner. The beautiful parlor with its gorgeous antique furniture, musical instruments, china, baby strollers and a carved child’s bed that Brenda Cullen, Douglas County Historical Society Collections Manager has been presenting in new arrangements thrilled everyone.

Downstairs, the Leadership Douglas County 2023 group enjoyed the time in the Washoe Room with Docent Kay introducing the Native American artifacts and the importance of famed Dat-So-La-Lee and her intricate basket weaving. The group wandered through all the remaining downstair rooms including the exhibits of the Pony Express, the Genoa jail and the blacksmith’s metal works.

As the Leadership’s visit came to an end at the Courthouse, two elderly visitors entered - Loraine Petersen Goodhue and Eunice Langreder. The amazing thing was that Mrs. Goodhue had actually been a student when the Courthouse was a school for all the children in the Genoa area. She graciously related first-hand history to the museum volunteers about growing up in Genoa and living next door to Douglas County’s famous artist Hans Meyer-Kassel.

Goodhue, herself, is a jewel from Genoa’s vibrant past. The museum volunteer staff considered it a privilege to meet her.