History

History information is some background and history about the location. This is meant to be a basic summary. Below the history records you will find sources in which you can click on to find out more information. There may be multiple history records per location.

The History of the Washoe Club In the salad days of Nevadas 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 Clubs 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

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.

By the time the Washoe Club was back to its renewed glory, the production of the miners had fallen drastically. Bonanza dividends for the first three months of 1876 averaged $10 per share and then skidded to $2 per share by years end. By the end of the decade, dividends on the Comstock were down to 50 cents per share.

A disastrous underground fire, in 1881, wreaked further havoc on the production of mines and on the ability of the Washoe Club members to continue to indulge in luxury. Membership continued to drop off and monthly dues were reduced to $2.50! By 1897, the Washoe Club ceased to exist and the Territorial Enterprise, of September 9, 1897, said, The Washoe Club is no more.

The closing of the Washoe Club marks an era in the history of Nevada, as did its opening, the paper concluded.

Added by: lmizenko on 09/13/2014 DB#:188
Source(s):
http://www.thewashoeclub.com/