- US map
- State capitals
- Carson City
Capital of Nevada · Carson City (independent city) · capital since 1861 · 39.2°N 119.8°W
Carson City, Nevada
Carson City, in the Eagle Valley at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, has been Nevada's capital since the territory was created in 1861. Las Vegas, 430 miles to the southeast, is eleven times larger.
Where Carson City is
Carson City is an independent municipality, having absorbed the former Ormsby County in 1969, and is one of only a few cities in the country not within any county. It is at 39.16°N, 119.77°W and about 4,800 ft above sea level in the Eagle Valley, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. The Carson River passes the east side of the city on its way to the Carson Sink. Lake Tahoe is about 15 miles west over Spooner Summit, the California border about 10 miles west, and Reno about 30 miles north. Nevada uses Pacific Time.
How it became the capital
Abraham Curry bought the Eagle Valley ranch in 1858 and laid out a town he named for the Carson River, itself named for scout Kit Carson. He set aside a central plaza for a capitol before any government existed. When Nevada Territory was split from Utah in 1861 the territorial legislature met in Carson City, then a supply town for the Comstock silver mines at Virginia City 15 miles away. It stayed the capital when Nevada became the 36th state on October 31, 1864, during the Civil War.
Population
Carson City had 58,639 residents in 2020, sixth among Nevada's cities. Las Vegas, the largest, had 641,903, and Henderson, Reno, North Las Vegas and Sparks are also bigger. About three-quarters of Nevada's 3,104,614 people live in Clark County around Las Vegas, at the opposite end of the state.
The capitol
The Nevada State Capitol was built in 1870–71 on Curry's plaza to a design by San Francisco architect Joseph Gosling, using sandstone from a quarry at the state prison east of town. It is a cruciform building with a silver-painted cupola. An annex was added in 1906 and the legislature moved to a separate building south of it in 1971, but the governor's office remains in the capitol. Carson City also hosted a federal mint from 1870 to 1893, whose CC-mark coins are prized by collectors.
Distances to other cities
| City | Direction | Road distance |
|---|---|---|
| Reno, NV | north | about 30 mi |
| Sacramento, CA | west | about 130 mi |
| Las Vegas, NV | southeast | about 430 mi |
Related maps
- Nevada map — the whole state with borders, cities and counties.
- Nevada county map · blank Nevada map · printable Nevada map.
- All 50 state capitals on one map, and the state capitals quiz.
- West region · Mountain division · Pacific Time Zone.