Nevada’s silver rush built historic Bowers Mansion

Bowers Mansion, one of Nevada’s most famous residences, memorializes the first fabulous Comstock mining era that brought Nevada Territory to statehood during the Civil War. A visit to this handsome dwelling is a fascinating side trip into history.

The elegant home, which now anchors a popular Washoe County regional park, was built in 1863 by the Silver State’s first mining millionaire couple, Lemuel “Sandy” Bowers and Eilley Oram Bowers.

The mansion frequently hosted parties, picnics and balls in the 1870s and nowadays welcomes crowds for weekend house tours, summertime swimming, picnics and special events.

The park will be crowded with folk music fans during the 31st annual Bowers Mansion Bluegrass Festival, a three-day event that kicks off Friday. Attendees bring blankets and lawn chairs for picnics on the grassy grounds or at picnic tables while enjoying the musical performances.

Since Bowers Mansion Regional Park is open for day use only, those planning overnight stays near the festival should reserve campsites at nearby Davis Creek Regional Park or Washoe Lake State Park. Separate entrance and camping fees will apply.

Affiliated festival activities include free concerts Friday night and Sunday morning at the Davis Creek amphitheater.

The two-story mansion is about 20 miles from Reno on the way south to Carson City. Follow U.S. Highway 395 into Washoe Valley. Watch for the exit for Davis Creek and Bowers Mansion onto Franktown Road, Old U.S. 395. Continue south, passing Davis Creek Regional Park, located about two miles north of Bowers Mansion.

The mansion nestles against the foothills of the Sierras, where it commands beautiful views across Washoe Valley and Washoe Lake. Nearby trails explore wooded areas on the slopes, including the family plot where Sandy and Eilley Bowers and their children are buried.

Bowers Mansion Regional Park is open year-round, except Thanksgiving and Christmas. There is no entrance fee. It offers picnicking, a playground, horseshoe pits, open grassy areas and shade trees. The swimming pool and children’s wading pool reopened after rehabilitation in 2013. Warmed by natural hot springs, the pools are open daily in summer for modest fees.

The 153-year-old house also recently underwent rehabilitation and stabilization. It is open for tours on weekends this season through Oct. 30. Guided 30-minute tours start on the hour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Since tour sizes are limited, call 775-849-0201 to reserve a spot. Tours cost $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and $5 for ages 5 to 17.

In 1853, Eilley Bowers married a fellow native of Scotland, a convert to the Mormon faith, and they moved first to Utah and later to Nevada Territory as settlers of a new community.

A few years later, her husband was called back to Utah, but Eilley stayed behind. She established a boardinghouse near Gold Hill and claimed several plots of mining land.

Eventually, Eilley and her husband divorced. She received the parcel where the mansion is located as part of the settlement.

In 1859, Eilley married Sandy Bowers, the owner of a nearby claim. They combined their holdings and struck it rich in the silver boom.

The couple had a great time building the mansion (which eventually cost $400,000), touring Europe for two years purchasing expensive furnishings.

The good fortune was short-lived. The rich ore played out. Sandy died and Eilley sold off the furnishings before losing the house.

She ended up as a fortune-teller in San Francisco. Eilley died a pauper at age 77 in 1903, and her remains were later returned to Nevada.

The historic mansion declined over time and was an abandoned shell by the late 1940s. In the 1960s, voters approved a bond that included money to restore the historic mansion.

Margo Bartlett Pesek’s Trip of the Week column appears on Sundays.