Storey County Courthouse

Storey County was organized in 1860 and named for Captain Edward Storey, who was killed during the Pyramid Lake Indian wars in Nevada. The earlier courthouse on this site was destroyed in the Great Fire of October 26, 1875, which also burned many of Virginia City’s early documents. Storey County hired the San Francisco architectural firm of Kenitzer and Raum to design the replacement, and contractor Peter Burke began work in 1876 and finished it in 1877 at a cost of $117,000.00. The courthouse also served as headquarters for the Storey County Sheriff’s Office until 1992, when a new facility was built on State Route 341 about a ¼ mile away. The building is one of two nineteenth century courthouses in Nevada still serving county government, and it now houses the Clerk Treasurer, Assessor, Comptroller, Recorder, County Manager, and County Commissioners. The Statue of Justice in the second-floor alcove is the only one on the exterior of a Nevada building and has long been a source of controversy. The seven-foot zinc figure was made in New York and arrived in Virginia City in 1877 at a cost of only $236.00. Although legend held that it was one of only a few created without a blindfold, research has shown that about 20 such models exist in the country. Perhaps residents chose it to ensure that justice would always see that justice prevailed on the Comstock.

Virginia City, Nevada · United States