Mottsville Cemetery historical tour Oct. 12

A historical tour of the Mottsville Cemetery guided by Laurie Hickey is 10 a.m. Oct. 12. Cost $5 per person.

Tour size will be limited; you must pre-register for the tour by emailing lauraranch@charter.net. Dress in layers and wear comfortable shoes, bring a hat and bottled water. The Mottsville Cemetery is located near the intersection of Foothill Road and Kingsbury Grade off Mottsville on Old Foothill Road North.

Mottsville Cemetery is the oldest still in use cemetery in Carson Valley, the resting place of many early Carson Valley pioneer settlers and their descendants. The Cemetery had it’s beginning in the 1850s behind the home of Israel and Eliza Mott when their infant daughter died and was buried in the backyard. The location soon became a full-fledged cemetery when many of the Mott’s neighbors were given permission to be buried in the same area. Some of the Cemetery is not exactly laid out in typical lot and block design because of the original early random burials.

Learn the history Ben Palmer, his sister Charlotte Barber and their families who are thought to be the first black residents of Nevada, Dr. Eliza Cook, thought to be the first licensed woman doctor in Nevada.

Learn the obscure connection between the Bull family and Eiley Bowers, of Comstock and Bowers Mansion fame.

Mottsville might be where Carson Valley became known as Cousin Valley as many of those original settlers who lived along the Emigrant Trail and went to the Old Mottsville School married their neighbors.

The Bulls, Motts, Parks, Dresslers, Jones’, Trimmers and the list goes on.