Gardnerville Branch Jail

1440 Courthouse St, Gardnerville, NV

Constructed in 1910.

In 1910 this little brick jailhouse was built in Gardnerville. It was meant to be a secondary jail for the valley, a place to keep criminals from Minden and Gardnerville while they were waiting to be transferred to the main jail in Genoa. But soon after this structure was built, the main jail in Genoa was destroyed in Genoa's Great Fire of 1910. The Gardnerville jail suddenly was the only jail in the Carson Valley, and stayed that way until 1915 when a jail was built at the new courthouse in Minden. After that this building went back to being a secondary jail like it was meant to be.

The jail cells were housed on the bottom floor of this two-story building, and there was a courtroom on the second story. Today the building is used as offices and meeting space for the Carson Valley 20/30 club. It's located along Courthouse Street, directly behind the French Bar.