The Washoe Club

Contact Us

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:55:53 +0000

The Washoe Club Museum is located in the Historic Mining town of Virginia City, Nevada. The building was built in 1862 and was the home of The Millionaires Club of the Washoe.

To contact the Museum you may call 775-847-GHOST (4467).

For USPS please use:
P.O. Box 317
Virginia City, NV 89440

To send items via UPS/FEDEX please use:
112 South “C” Street
Virginia City, NV 89440

For more information about Memberships please contact Scott at info@thewashoeclub.com

For more information about the Restoration Project please contact Scott at:
restoration@thewashoeclub.com

Restoration

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:48:51 +0000

The Washoe Club is a three story brick structure located in the Historic District of Virginia City. The first story is currently occupied by commercial properties while the upper stories are unoccupied at this time. The building is an unreinforced masonry building and, as such, has several deficiencies relative to its ability to resist seismic events.

Since the roof has several leaks, one of our first priorities is to completely reroof the building.

Basic Membership Donation is $20.00

Silver Membership Donation is $1,000.00

Please call; 775-847-9133 to join as a Silver Member

Gold Membership Donation is $5,000.00

Please call; 775-847-9133 to join as a Gold Member

The Benefits of Membership Include:
Admission to the new “Washoe Club Museum”
Discounted Drink Prices in the Saloon
Discounts on all Merchandise
Quarterly Newsletter

All Memberships Are Valid for One Year

Silver Members & Gold Members will be credited on a Plaque

Please Mail Membership Form To:
The Washoe Club Restoration
P.O. Box 317 Virginia City, NV 89440

Please make check payable to: The Washoe Club Restoration Project

Your Membership Card will be mailed to you immediately.
Your donation is greatly appreciated!

Ghost Hunting and Paranormal Investigations

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:41:55 +0000

The “Crypt” is now available for overnight investigations. Yes, your group can be locked down in the Washoe Club for a full investigation just like Zak, Nick, and Aaron from the Travel Channel original series, Ghost Adventures.

For $200 your group will get access to the crypt as well as the spiral staircase. All that is required is that each member of your group becomes a basic member of The Washoe Club Restoration project at the $20 level.

If your group would like to donate more in support of the restoration project, a $1000 donation will entitle your group to a full overnight investigation in one of The West’s most haunted venues. The Group Name will also be included on a plaque, on display in the Museum and credited as a major contributor to the Restoration Project. For more information please contact the owner, Scott Burrell at:
ghosthunts@thewashoeclub.com.

Contact Information – Returns

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:28:23 +0000

Send via UPS or FedEx to:
112 South “C” Street
Virginia City, NV 89440

Send via US Mail to:
P.O. Box #317
Virginia City, NV 89440

(775) 847-7210

Return Policy

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:25:28 +0000

All merchandise can be returned within 30 business days of date of purchase. Donations are non-refundable.

Any shipping costs are non-refundable and it is the customers’ responsibility to pay for any shipping costs to return items to The Washoe Club Museum.

Send all returned items to the address listed to the right for full refund. Items paid for with cash or check will be refunded via check from the Washoe Club Museum. Items paid for via credit card or check or debit card will be refunded to the purchasing card.

Hello world!

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:38:08 +0000

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Historical Photos

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:21:39 +0000

The History of the Washoe Club1

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 02:38:10 +0000

In the salad days of Nevada’s Comstock Lode a great social institution was spawned by mining magnates, artists and men of letters who sought to hobnob in luxury. The Washoe Club gained a reputation throughout the Pacific Coast for luxurious accommodations, and at one time it was a household term.

Soon after Bonanza dividends surged from $3 per share in January 1875 to $10 per share within less than two months, an organizational meeting of the Club held on February 20 proved to be a prelude to a parade of notables that would cavort through the Club’s exclusive quarters which housed one of the finest libraries east of San Francisco, an elegant billiard room, a parlor adorned with Italian marble and bronze statuettes, and a wine room that boasted an elaborately carved black walnut sideboard. The Club’s membership roster read like a Who’s Who of Comstock and Pacific Coast history, and the pages of the Club’s guest register were emblazoned with the signatures of General Ulysses S. Grant, General Robert Sherman, actor-lecturer Artemus Ward, actor Edwin Booth and railroad magnate Darius Ogden Mills and fifty other millionaires of international reputation.

The Territorial Enterprise of February 21, 1875, reported the details of the organizational meeting of the previous day:

…a meeting was held yesterday afternoon at 3 o’clock at the office of Whitman & Wood in the California Building, for the purpose of taking steps for the organization of a social club in this city.

The club begins with sixty charter members, who pay in $150 each, making $9,000 with which to start. The initiation for new members has not yet been decided upon nor the amount to be paid in per month by each member.

We understand that the club will either purchase or erect a suitable building in which to fit up their rooms, and it is their intention to have everything in grand style. There will be a fine library and all the leading newspapers of the United States will be kept; also, the stock reports and all also in the way of news will be brought to the rooms of the club.

There will be a billiard-room, lunch room and all else that is to be found in the rooms of any first-class club of the kind.

The number of members is limited to 200. This club will supply a want long felt in the city, and is calculated to do a vast amount of good in a great variety of ways. The names of those who are taking the lead in organization of the club are a sufficient guaranty that it will prove a grand success in every respect.

The History of the Washoe Club

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 02:29:58 +0000

Among the sixty charter members were Bank of California officers W.H. Blauvelt, J.E. Eckley, J.P. Martin and A.J. Ralston; Nevada Bank of San Francisco agent George A. King, Territorial Enterprise editor R. M. Daggett, mining magnates John Mackay and James G. Fair, Tahoe lumber magnate D.L. Bliss, mine superintendents Samuel T. Curtis, Charles Forman, W.S. Hobert, Frank F. Osbiston, and Isaac L. Requa; former Nevada Chief Justice James F. Lewis, Judge R.S. Mesick, Virginia and Truckee Railroad officers F.A. Tritle and H. M. Yerington and Wells Fargo agent C.C. Pendergast.

Other charter members included these attorneys and businessmen:

P.F. Beardsley, C.H.Belknap, Daniel Cook, A. Cornwall, George H. Dana, W.E.F. Deal, C. Derby, R.V. Dey, Samuel Doake, E.D. Dorsey, C.E. DeLong, Dennis Driscoll, A.M. Eddington, G.F. Ford, N.C. Hall, A.C. Hamilton, John B. Hereford, G.W. Hopkins, R.P. Geating, Robert H. Lindsay, John Mallon, Joseph B. Mallon, D.C. McKay, T.D. Parkinson, T.H. Ralston, W.M. Robertson, Henry Rolfe, George Senf, M.N. Stone, Thomas B. Taylor, A.B. Thompson, C.W. Tozer, John Van DeWater, C.H. Van Gorder, R. Webber, B.C. Whitman, W.S. Wood, William Woodburn and W.T. Wright.

Within two months the Club had purchased the Reynolds Building at 8 & 10 “B” Street and promptly began renovating the structure to the organization’s luxurious requirements; the enterprise of April 22, 1875, noted the progress:

The double hall was at once taken out and the stairs, which were in front, were removed to the rear. As at present arranged, the ascent is easily made and the hall commodious. The lower floor of the building is still occupied by Mr. Thompson, the architect, upon one side, and by Mr. Hereford, the mill and mining superintendent, upon the other.

To the north of the hall, and next to the eastern wall, is the wine-room — 14×17 feet – which will be fitted up with an elegant sideboard, etc. Between this and the front parlor is the card-room –14×14 — which is to be elegantly furnished, but in which no games for money will be allowed to be played. Passing through the folding doors to the front, you enter one of the double parlors, which occupy the whole front of the building, and are connected by sliding doors of ample dimensions. The first parlor is 19×24, the second 24×27 feet. To the west of the one last mentioned is the billiard-room, 24×31 feet, which is to contain two tables, of elegant pattern and most approved make. Either of these rooms is accessible from the hall and communicate by means of sliding doors.

The old windows are to be removed and replaced by two pane of French plate glass.

The carpets and furniture are to be of the most elegant styles and make and of superior quality. The grates and mantles are of the purest marble, and when completed, the Washoe Club will have a place where they may recline at ease and sojourn in comfort. It is the intention of the Club to erect a building upon the western portion of their lot, and facing “A” Street, which will be fitted up in elegance and used as a really first-class lodging house with restaurant attached. When completed, the Club may justly feel proud of their conveniently arranged, elegantly fitted up and comfortable rooms.

The Washoe Club History 3

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:37:46 +0000

“A run through the elegant rooms” was offered by the paper on June 4:

. . .The situation is most desirable, being on “B” Street, between Taylor and Union, and a few doors north of the Court House. The front is adorned with a balcony, from which the magnificent scenery to the east of the city is visible. This outlook is unsurpassed by any in the land. The eye ranges over the busy part of the city, the hills to the east, the Sugarloaf, the Valley of the Carson, the Como Range, and on till its reach is lost in the distance. Upon the background of the picture, the Twenty-six mile Desert, 65 miles away, appears as a brown spot, and the Humboldts, 150 miles distant, raise their bold broad brows, snow-covered, till they seem to mix with heaven’s blue arch and fade away to the sky. The faint outline of the Forty-mile Desert, so terrible in early days as the abode of dusty death, is just caught as it sinks, like the dip of ocean water, behind the intervening ranges.

The approaches to the rooms are easy and elegant. The lower hall is ample and well lighted. Toward the western and the stairway rises very gradually, taking 32 steps to gain the elevation of the second story. The hall above is also ample, well lighted, and affords easy access to each of the rooms. The stairs and upper hall are elegantly carpeted with body Brussels. The front part of the second story is occupied by the parlor and reading-room.

The parlor is 27×24 feet. The carpet is of body Brussels of elegant make and extra quality. The same pattern extends through the reading and billiard-rooms. All the carpets were selected for the Club by Mr. Rogers, President of the Union Club of San Francisco, who has certainly displayed superior taste in the selections made.

The mantle is of the finest Italian marble and adorned with beautiful bronze statuettes, the one in the center bearing an elegant clock, those at either hand representing Shakespeare and Tasso, respectively. Above the mantle is placed and elegant and costly French plate glass mirror. The walls are finished with China glaze and ornamented with distinguished works of art, and conspicuous among them were noticeable the two storm scenes by French, the one representing “Broad River Falls,” North Carolina, the other “Haymaking,” and each having a storm done to nature for a background. These elegant paintings were purchased at the recent art sale in this city. The windows are of fine plate glass and the furniture upholstered, the covering blending and harmonizing beautifully with the carpet.

The general description above given to the parlor applies equally well to the reading room. This room is 19×24 feet, and is to the left of the parlor. Here are to be found all the latest papers and periodicals for perusal. The paintings on the walls are also very fine and include a “Summer Scene in Orange County, New York” and Zang’s famous “Winter Scene.”

The chandeliers, both here in the parlor, are of elegant pattern, beautifully gilt and the finest ever brought to Virginia City. Large sliding doors connect this room with the parlor, as the two are fitted up en suite.

The billiard-room is carpeted with the same body Brussels as the parlor and reading-room.

It contains two elegant tables manufactured by Strahle & Co. with Delaney’s patent wire and rubber cushions and slate beds. Here everything is of the same style of elegance as prevails throughout the entire establishment. Even patent counters are introduced, thus doing away with the necessity of stretching wires across the room. This room is to the right as the upper hall is gained and communicates by sliding doors with the parlor.

The wine and card-rooms are to the left of the upper hall and communicate with the reading-room. These are richly and tastefully furnished and contain everything which can contribute to the comfort and enjoyment of those who frequent them. These rooms are respectively 14×17 and 14×14 feet. The card-room is back of the library, and the wine and lunch-room in the rear of the card-room. The sideboard in the latter is of black walnut, elegantly and elaborately carved. Next to it is a sink of the same material and made to correspond therewith. The carpets in both rooms are of the same pattern and differ in figure only from those in the other rooms. The chandeliers in these rooms are most elegant and covered with steel plate, which is polished like silver.

The store-room is on the lower floor, where all the supplies are kept. The whole is under the immediate supervision of the Assistant Secretary, W.C. Brown. All supplies are charged to him. When anything is needed by the bar-tender upstairs, it is charged to the sideboard. Members partaking thereof or engaging in billiards, hand to the bar-tender a card prepared for the purpose, which is filled out with the name, article and amount. No money is used by the members. Their accounts are all kept and charged up and kept with their monthly dues. It is the duty of the Assistant Secretary to keep all these accounts, as well as to attend to their collection.