The Carson Valley Cinemas sign along Highway 395 in Minden.
In the mid-1880s, three halls were serving the populace in Gardnerville, Genoa and, yep, Sheridan.
Gardnerville was the home of Valhalla Hall, which was constructed in early 1885 in time for its first big party for Washington’s Birthday. It wasn’t until the following year that the Raycraft Brothers put the finishing touches on their hall in Genoa.
All for a population around 1,000 people in the entire county.
Valhalla Hall was rebuilt a couple of times, including in 1890 when Peter Steffes received the contract to build a 36-by 64-foot building along Main and Eddy streets. The new hall would last about 14 years before the Gardnerville fire of 1904 claimed it and surrounding structures.
But by 1905 the Dania Society had rebuilt Valhalla and it was put to good use, including serving as the site of the earliest Douglas County High School graduations, well before there was an actual Douglas County High School.
Valhalla Hall would become the Star Theater in 1920 and later the building housing the Bamboo Hut and Joyland Café, then Magoo’s ending life as an empty derelict that was demolished in 2022.
With the creation of Minden in 1906 and extension of the railroad into Douglas County, it was only a matter of time before there was a new hall. The Carson Valley Improvement Club raised $10,000 to build the structure in 1912 that continues to serve as one of the more popular venues in the Valley.
Raycraft Hall, too, still serves Carson Valley as the Genoa Town Hall, purchased by the county for $750 from Anna Raycraft in 1941.
The Valley’s only movie theater is expected to close at the end of next month. On Thursday, Community Services will pitch the idea of purchasing CV Cinema for around $2.9 million to county commissioners. There’s money in the room tax fund that could be used for the purchase.
While buying a movie theater doesn’t look quite as parsimonious as one would expect from a county as conservative as Douglas, there is a historic model for converting private halls for public use.