Carson City is the capital city of Nevada. At the time of the 2000 census it had a population of about 52,000 residents. The first European explorers to enter the area were John C. Fremont with his exploration party in 1843. Known as Eagle Valley, Fremont named the river flowing through the area the ‘Carson River’ in honor of his famous mountain man scout Christopher “Kit” Carson.
In 1880, when the Southern Pacific Railroad built a train line through Donner Pass, the population and traffic took a nosedive due to the railroad being too far to the north to benefit Carson City. The city slowly grew through the years, finally reaching its pre-1880 population figure in 1960.