During recent public meetings leading up to the Nevada City Council’s decision to pay themselves and future councilmembers $500 a month, reference was made several times to the town having been incorporated in 1856 –– an oft-repeated misstatement of local history that needs clarification. A related frequent misstatement is the claim that in order to avoid confusion, the town of Nevada became Nevada City in 1864 when the new state to the east was admitted to the Union and appropriated the name Nevada.
It seems logical that a name change would have taken place in 1864 –– or perhaps earlier, in 1861, when the Nevada Territory was carved out of a portion of the Utah Territory. Logical, but not accurate.
Truth is, “Nevada City” was often used as early as 1851 –– thirteen years before Nevada statehood –– and the legal corporate name was, and remains, City of Nevada. So is the county seat Nevada City or City of Nevada? And was it incorporated in 1851 or 1856? Let’s see what happened, then you decide for yourself.
When miners were working Deer Creek and Gold Run Creek in 1849, most people referred to present-day Nevada City as Caldwell’s Upper Store (a general mercantile and grocery store located where Trinity Episcopal Church now stands on Nevada Street). By the spring of 1850, however, a more fitting name was desired.
According to pioneer Charles Marsh, who was at the meeting when it happened, the name “Nevada” was agreed to on April 17, 1850. The name was suggested by O. P. Blackman, a Main Street merchant, and means “snow covered” in Spanish.
Considering that the town-naming meeting was held following a winter that saw several feet of snow accumulate here, it’s easy to understand why Nevada was selected. As for the man who suggested the name, little is known except that Blackman later became a wholesale liquor distributor and purveyor of alcohol for the 1856 San Francisco Committee of Vigilance –– the feared Vigilantes.
The first local newspaper was the Nevada Journal, established in April 1851. In its first edition, the Journal identified its place of publication as Nevada City, and some advertisers began referring to their business being located in Nevada City. Also in 1851, the post office began using Nevada City, Cal. as its postmark.
Insofar as the formal and official City of Nevada designation is concerned, it is a name codified by the incorporations of 1851, 1854, 1856 and 1878, and reads, “The people of the City of Nevada shall be a body politic and corporate, under the style of the ‘City of Nevada.’”
Several months after its first incorporation, the City of Nevada was bankrupt, unable to pay bills because they had neglected to provide themselves with taxing authority. They tried paying with script, but the script had no monetary value. In addition, the incorporation document contained language inconsistent with the state constitution, so disincorporation became necessary.
In 1854 they again incorporated, and everything seemed fine until local newspaper coverage of a criminal trial drew the ire of the district attorney. The DA demanded an apology from the newspaper, but it wouldn’t issue one, so the DA, out of spite, challenged the legitimacy of the 1854 incorporation based on a procedural error, and in 1855 the state supreme court sided with the district attorney. A third incorporation took place in April 1856, and it remained intact until 1878, when a new state constitution was ratified and all California communities reincorporated with new language.
Confused? Here’s a summary: Originally called Nevada, but commonly referred to as Nevada City, its legal name since 1851 has been City of Nevada. The existing City Seal, used to emboss proclamations and other official 21st century documents, reads “City of Nevada,” but the USPS postmark remains Nevada City. Also, the first local newspaper referred to the town as Nevada City, and in the early 1850s some businesses used Nevada City in newspaper display ads.
Clearly, then, the “City” appellation was not added in 1864 when the State of Nevada was admitted to the Union. It’s one of those local myths that has endured –– similar to claims that Nevada County is shaped like a Derringer, the nozzle abutting the State of Nevada, in protest for them stealing the name. (But that’s a story for another day).
Be it Nevada City or City of Nevada, and using whichever incorporation date you prefer, the name Nevada has stood since April 17, 1850. That means next spring the town will observe its 175th birthday. Could be quite a party, but that’s a heck of a lot of candles to blow out with one breath.