Minden became the seat of Douglas County in 1916. The D.F. Dangberg Land and Live Stock Company established the town in 1905 to provide terminal facilities for the Virginia and Truckee Railway as it extended a branch line southward from Carson City, and the passenger and freight depot stood at this point. Minden was named for a town in Westphalia, Germany, where the company's founder was born in 1829. The principal promoter of the town and its related development was H.F. Dangberg, Jr., secretary of the company and son of the founder.