"19th Century History
Goodwin Jones - Before there was a Parish House, there was an empty property lot on the south-east corner of Taylor Street and F Street. The lot was owned by W. S. Hobart, famous lumber and water owner-businessman of the Sierra. Hobart had supplied the water system for Virginia City in 1873. In 1874, he split a property lot he owned in Virginia City and gave the half-lots as Christmas presents to his two sisters. In 1876, Goodwin Jones (born 1840,) who was married to Hobart's sister, Martha, built his house on his wife's (half) lot. Jones was the Chief Engineer for the Caledonia Mine, smallest of the original Comstock mines.
Trained as an engineer, Jones decided to incorporate several unusual ideas into the house. The 200 gallon Kerosene tank located in the attic that gravity-feeds kerosene to all of the ceiling lamp fixtures in each room (on both floors) is one example. Mining timbers mounted on brick piers support the center of the house. Jones had the house built in the then popular Italianate style with tall windows and a fairly flat roof. Other unusual features include external clapboard siding that is entirely redwood and all external trim is also redwood. All framing structure is built with rough-cut fir. The front parlor has an elaborate running plaster cornice. The hall is given a similar cornice though not as elaborate. Double doors allowed a wide access through the front entrance. The single brick flue for venting the wood-burning heating allowed for five wood stoves which included a basement stove, a back parlor stove, the kitchen stove and two upstairs stoves. There are two sets of pocket doors, one set divides the down-stairs parlor from the back dining room while the other set divides the upstairs setting room from the main bedroom. Within a couple of years, Martha's sister (Mary) gave her half-lot to her sister and the property became a complete lot, (Lot 1.) The Jones' had two sons, Walter and George. In 1880, the boys got into some gray paint found in the basement. Walter painted his initials (W.J.) and date on the basement stairs and "Jones Bros." over the basement door. Many other "signs" and "tic-tac-toe" paintings are throughout the basement (see photo below.) It seems likely that Jones had used the gray paint for the house. Initially, it appears that the house wasn't painted at all but, probably by 1880, it had been painted gray. There is also other evidence that indicates that the house's original (or first) painted color was gray.
Andrew and Robert Patterson - Goodwin Jones sold the house to Andrew Patterson, one of the twin brothers, Andrew and Robert Patterson. Andrew had owned a restaurant called "The Georgia" in Macon, Georgia. During the Civil War he invested heavily in Confederate currency which left him bankrupt at the end of the war. His brother, Robert, born in 1830, had come to California with the "49ers" (1849) and worked many of the mining camps in the Sierra. He eventually moved on to Virginia City where he prospered. Andrew came to live with Robert's family in the early 1880s. Andrew bought the Jones' house in 1884 for $600 in gold coin. Within 11 months he had sold the house for $1 to his brother, Robert and the two families lived together until Andrew's death in 1887.
Dr. Thomas McDonald - Dr. McDonald's family lived here from 1897 up to 1901. The house was purchased by Dr. McDonald's wife for a small sum in gold. Dr. McDonald and his family moved in 1901, then selling the property to local merchant, John McGrath Sr., whose grocery business was located on C Street. Dr. McDonald himself did not survive much longer. He died in 1907 and is buried in Virginia City.
20th Century History
John McGrath, whose grocery-mercantile store was located close to the Washoe Club saloon, was a successful merchant. His store featured a set of ore tracks from the front boardwalk into the store to facilitate the loading and unloading merchandise. At one time, McGrath owned all four F Street lots which constitute the entire block between Washington Street and Taylor Street. The large McGrath family resided here for nearly 30 years before John Sr. succumbed to a liver disease, (June 1929.) His daughter, Jane (McGrath) Boyle inherited the house and eventually, in 1935, gave it (and Lot 1 & 2), to the Catholic Bishop of Reno, Thomas Gorman.
Bishop Thomas Gorman and the Catholic Church - Bishop Gorman first used the house as a part-time rectory and also as a place to hold meetings for various clubs associated with the church. The Boyles continued to pay the property taxes. Later, in 1939, Rt. Rev. Harrigan had a new set of papers drawn up - perhaps trying to establish that the Catholic Church owned the house - however Bishop Gorman continued to be listed as co-owner and continued to pay the property taxes. There is ample evidence that the house was rented to parishioners at various times.
From 1944 through 1945, famous Nevada artist, Thelma Davis Calhoun lived in the house (which she rented from the church.) Thelma let the Dollie Sisters spend a night in the house when their vaudeville act was stranded in Virginia City in 1944. Thelma was in the process of moving to Carson City when VJ Day happened. Thelma remembered that the house "didn't have any paint left on it, or it might have been gray." In 1948, the Catholic Church acquired full ownership and property tax records cease. The house was sometimes rented out after that but more often was used just for church offices and a sometimes Sunday school.
In the late fifties, the house was called "St. Mary's Ministry" and was probably a combination of offices and rectory for use by a group of Cistercian monks headed by Father Robert Jelliffe, founder of the Damascus Foundation and controversial "modernizer" of St Mary's in the Mountains Catholic Church. There is some evidence that a small museum containing some of the relics Father Jelliffe removed from the church was located adjacent to the house on the south side of the property.
The Parish House has had various owners since 1977. Most of the questionable renovations to the Parish House have occurred over the past thirty years since the house has been in private ownership once again. In the early eighties, a garage and south-side sunroom were added to the property. Fortunately, the garish sunroom addition is mostly hidden from the front view by the two large cedar trees planted on the west-side of the addition. Shortly after purchase, in 1993, we did all of the research on the house's history and had it listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, late in 1993 (NRHP #93000688 - Parish House.) Even though the Parish House is over 130 years old, it is a sound structure that was built with high quality materials that have been well preserved by Nevada's usually dry climate.
21th Century History
The Parish House was the location of the Western Historic Radio Museum, open to the public from September 3, 1994 until September 30, 2012. We are the thirteenth owners and are the third longest residents. The Catholic Church/Bishop Gorman et al were owners for 42 years, John McGrath was an owner for 28 years and then us, at 18+ years. Robert Patterson's widow, Ellie Patterson was a resident from 1884 to 1897, for 13 years, though she may have also resided at their Carson City house from time to time. All other owners were residents for less than 10 years." (
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