Northern Nevada is in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada Range and “water events” like floods rarely happen on this side of mountains, so it’s newsworthy when the streams and bigger streams rise up even a little. We’re seeing some of this right now due to a relatively wet winter and a fast melt.

Case in point is the Carson River that flows through Douglas County and Carson City. Here’s the Mexican Dam in an undated picture from the Nevada State Library and Archives (probably the 1950s):

Here it is in a picture I took in November 2009 from the other side of the river near the opening of the Mexican Ditch.

And this morning (June 6, 2010), coincidentally standing in the exact same place:

Check out the sound of the water going over the dam.

This is about as much water you’ll see under “normal” conditions. Be careful if you plan to do any hiking in the area or kayaking out on the river.

As long-time readers know (i.e.: both of you), The Bride witters away her days at the Nevada State Library and Archives. She has access to a host of Old Nevada photos but, sadly, many are provided by state agencies who don’t date or describe their pictures. Such is the case for these photographs from the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDoT). There’s a few dozen in their folder, mostly pictures of staff members, but here’s some gems.

The Mexican Dam on the Carson River from way back when. If you go out there today, you’ll see that almost nothing has changed aside from the volume of water. Compare it to a picture I took from last November from the other side of the dam.

Here is the Nevada/California state border at South Lake Tahoe. None of the buildings in the background survive to this day.

An aerial photo detailing the two possible routes of Interstate 80 around Elko, Nevada. They decided on the Red Line.

Finally, a University of Nevada campus devoid of trees and familiar landscaping. At this time of this picture, Clark Administration on the front left was the university library (I worked in the basement for a few weeks). To the north is Frandsen Humanities, home to the English Department where my grandfather taught for many decades. Lincoln Hall is in the background and Manzanita Lake is barely noticeable to the left of Clark.

Edit: Yeah, I’m wrong. That’s Frandsen dominating the center (Clark doesn’t have pillars like Frandsen has on the east face) and that Thompson to the north. Clark is to the south of Frandsen.

As always, please credit the Nevada State Library and Archives when using these pictures (and I wouldn’t mind a shout-out, either). And Around Carson does a far superior job of posting pictures like these and I recommend Scott’s site to anyone interested in delving into Nevada’s photographic past.

Sometimes lost in the discussion over Nevada’s open spaces is the fact that the federal government owns 80+ percent of the Silver State and much of the remainder is land for mining, transportation (highways and trains), and ranching/farming. The ranching part has a rich history in Carson City with homesteads owned by the Parkers, Lompas and others. The old range still exists in Carson but is shrinking from development and Californication. Here’s some pix from the old Lompa Ranch area and purists will note that the new freeway extension is to my back as I took this pictures. Even so, these shots show why this space should be preserved for as long as possible.

Since this blog seems to be on a Nevada kick, how about The Killers doing our state song (link courtesy of the LVRJ):

(Just so you can impress friends and loved ones, The Killers started their path to fame and fortune by playing the drag clubs in Las Vegas. We all gotta start somewhere.)

Nevada Day was yesterday and it celebrates the Silver State’s admission to the Union back in 1864. It’s traditionally marked with numerous events in Carson City and includes a balloon liftoff, beard judging contest (by state supreme court justices, no less), a carnival, and the monstrous Nevada Day Parade down Carson Street. This alone takes more than three hours and includes a wide range of floats and exhibits ranging from politicians to cute kids in costumes to all sorts of animals. I’ve participated in more than a few of them and can tell you that the folks walking the route are more interested in dodging elephant dung than they are waving to the crowd.

Here’s some photographs of the 1963 Nevada Day Parade found in the Nevada State Library and Archives, probably from the John Nulty Collection. While things were much different in Carson City 46 years ago, you can see that people were just as fascinated by parades back in the day as they are today.

Edit: Scott from Around Carson makes these important observations: “I doubt all of these photos are from 1963. In the second one we should be looking right at the Carson Theatre, but it’s not there yet. And in the last one we’re looking at the Carson Nugget block, but there’s still a garage there, not a casino.” Always appreciate the corrections. Thanks, Scott!

Re-edit: Scott dug deeper and fixed this entire post (somebody had to do it). Here are his corrections: Looking at the official Nevada Day website, I think all these photos except the first one are from 1939, the second Nevada Day parade ever. http://nevadaday.com/pages/history.html