Saint Charles Hotel (1862)

Built in 1862, the St. Charles Hotel is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Nevada. There were originally two separate hotels side by side: the St. Charles Hotel (three stories) and the Muller Hotel (two stories). Both buildings are still standing, and together they now form the St. Charles Hotel (sometimes called the St. Charles-Muller Hotel). The property is significant for its vernacular Italianate architecture. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

While still in their twenties, Albert Muller and George Remington decided to embark on a bold new business venture. In 1862, they set out to construct two hotels that they hoped would eventually be located directly across from the Capitol building in Carson City. Although the city had not yet even been named the capital of the Nevada Territories, the two young men believed it was the likely choice. In their view, this also meant that the city would soon be drawing greater numbers of statesmen in need of a quality hotel.

As it turns out, their business venture paid off. The St. Charles Hotel became known as "the most desirable and most commodious first-class house in Carson." Adding to its popularity and success, the St. Charles Hotel was the stage coach stop for Carson City, where the Pioneer Stage Company had its offices. During 1860, just two years before the hotel was built, the Pony Express maintained stables across the street.

From 1861 to 1864, Mark Twain (the pen name for American author Samuel Clemens) lived in Carson City. He had traveled to Nevada by stage coach with his older brother, Orion Clemens, who was then serving as the Secretary of the Nevada Territory, appointed by President Abraham Lincoln. It is thought likely that Mark Twain would have visited the St. Charles Hotel's restaurant and bar, which was located on the ground level, after the hotel was built in 1862. Twain also returned to Carson City in October 1866 and again in April 1868, by this time a famous journalist, although his career as a major novelist still lay ahead.

By the mid-twentieth century, the St. Charles Hotel had fallen into decline. It has become renamed as the Pony Express Hotel, a reference to the Pony Express Mail Route that traversed the western U.S. nearly a century earlier in 1860. However, the hotel would eventually experience a twenty-first century renaissance. Ownership changed hands several times over the coming decades. The hotel was restored and renamed the "St. Charles." With a fresh coat of red paint, striped awnings, and gleaming signage on the exterior, the hotel now looks similar to its original appearance upon its establishment in 1862.

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