The Kit Carson Trail is a walking path through Carson City's residential homes district. A painted blue line and bronze medallions along the sidewalk mark the route, which features stops at landmarks, including 1800s-era Victorian-style homes, museums and churches. More than 60 landmarks are featured along the trail.

Staying in one place for more than 100 years offers the luxury of sometimes knowing too much. The houses featured along Carson City's Kit Carson Trail have that problem and are anxious to share their stories with everyone! Stop by the visitors' center and pick up a CD or download our Podcast.

For more information on the Kit Carson Trail, call us at 1-800-NEVADA-1, (775) 687-7410 or send us an email. We're here to help you discover the wild west!

TALKING HOUSES - PODCAST

The Victorian-style homes of Carson City's Kit Carson Trail tell the stories of a hundred years. The "Talking Houses" tales are ninety-second narratives of frontier life, anecdotes and secrets of each home, and sound effects including train whistles, horse-drawn carriages and John Wayne's voice at the Krebs-Petersen house where he filmed his last movie, "The Shootist." Celebrated locals of yesteryear tell the tales, including Mark Twain, Carson City founder Abe Curry, and Hannah Clapp, the town's original feminist.

This podcast gives visitors the luxury of local history at their own pace. Copy and paste this URL into your Podcast program (such as iTunes):

http://www.visitcarsoncity.com/assets/history/talking_houses.xml

Or, listen to any story in MP3 by clicking on the title below.

1. Nevada State Capitol and the State Library and Archives
Hannah Keziah Clapp
Our tour of Carson City's famous homes continues as Hannah Keziah Clapp describes the State Capitol. In 1875 she won the contract to provide the iron fencing surrounding the Capitol yard.

2. Former U.S. Post Office and Kitzmeyer Furniture Factory
George Kitzmeyer
In 1872, George Kitzmeyer built his furniture factory, which added coffin and mortuary services a few years later. The federal building just to the north of his factory went through many changes and is now the home of the Nevada Commission on Tourism.

3. Nevada State Museum / U.S. Mint
Judge Clark Guild
Judge Clark Guild, sometimes called the father of the Nevada State Museum, describes its origins in the state Mint and the silver "CC" coins of Carson City.

4. Governor’s Mansion
June Dickerson
June Dickerson was the only child ever born in the Nevada Governor's Mansion. She tells its story - after the first 11 governors built their own homes or rented, the Mansion was built in the Southern Colonial Style in 1909.

5. Ormsby County Courthouse, Former Nevada Supreme Court and Heroes’ Memorial Building
Frederick J. DeLongchamps
From 1919 to 1926, Frederick J. DeLongchamps served as Nevada's State Architect, and designed over 550 buildings. He talks about three of his most famous, Ormsby County Courthouse, Former Nevada Supreme Court and Heroes' Memorial Building, all in his signature hybrid style of Beaux Arts and Neoclassical.

6. St. Teresa's Catholic church and the Stewart-Nye House
Jakob Klein
Born in France, Jacob Klein came to Nevada at age 19 and co-founded the Carson Brewing Company. He helped establish the first Catholic church in Carson City, across the street from his brewery.

7. Curry House and Chartz House
Alfred Chartz
A respected water and mining attorney, Alfred Chartz bought the house that still bears his name in 1894 for the princely sum of $3500. He describes his home as well as that of Abraham Curry, unique in its use of locally-quarried sandstone.

8. Orion Clemens House
Mark Twain
Sam Clemens, aka Mark Twain, tells us about his elder brother Orion and the fine house he built in 1863. Some in town called it "the Governor's Mansion", though the real Governor's Mansion wouldn't be built until 1909.

9. Yerington Home
Henry Marvin Yerington
In 1869, Henry Marvin Yerington drove the first spike into the first rail of the famous Virginia & Truckee Railway. He bought his beautiful home for its Solarium, which reminded him of a railroad observation car.

10. Bender-Pozzi House and Bliss Mansion
Elizabeth Tobey Bliss
In this episode, Elizabeth Tobey Bliss describes her husband Dwayne and their home, the Bliss Mansion, built in 1879.

11. Krebs-Peterson House
J.B. Books
J.B. Books, reading as John Wayne, describes the Krebs-Peterson house at 500 N. Mountain St. where many scenes from The Shootist were filmed. Dr. Krebs developed an influenza treatment with local plants.

12. Dat So La Lee and Cohn Homes
Dat So La Lee (Lousa Keyser)
Famed basketmaker Dat So La Lee (Louisa Keyser) lived nextdoor to Abe and Amy Cohn. The Cohns sponsored Louisa's creations - now considered priceless by the Smithsonian.

13. Carson Brewing Company
Arnold Millard
Arnold Millard raises a toast to Carson Brewing, Nevada's longest-operating brewery, the same business he closed down 88 years after it first opened. Its steam beer was brewed to satisfy the silver miners, and was so popular that a new 2-story structure was added in 1875.

14. Rinckel Mansion and E.D. Sweeney Building
Mathias Rinckel
Rinckel Mansion was built by the fortune of Mathias Rinckel, a forward-looking meat magnate who struck it rich supplying Gold Rushers and Lake Tahoe lumbermen. He describes his solid brick home, modeled after the homes of Europe.

15. J.D. Roberts House
Hattie Hale Roberts
Hattie Hale Roberts and her husband Thurman bequeathed their home to Carson City. The Roberts house is a rare example of Gothic Revival style in Nevada. Built in 1859, in Washoe City, it was moved to Carson City on Virginia and Truckee railroad cars.

16. St. Charles-Muller’s Hotel
Hank Monk
Infamous stagecoach driver Hank Monk tells us of his famous passengers, and the Carson City hotel which was his perennial first stop. Among the first hotels in Carson City, the Muller hotel served the working class, and later merged with the St. Charles in 1902.