Gould & Curry Offices - Nevada Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Also Known as Mackay Mansion – 129 So. D. St., Virginia City, NV

The Gould and Curry Mining Company was founded in the Spring of 1859 by Alvah (Alva) Gould and Abraham Curry. The original claim was just over 900 feet of the Comstock Lode between the Best & Belcher and the Savage mines. Both men later sold their interest in the mine in the Fall of 1859. Curry relocated to Carson City where he became a major player in the town's growth and is considered the father of Carson City.

Built in 1860, the Gould and Curry mining office also provided housing for the mine superintendent. This three-story brick building was equipped with a 500-gallon, gravity-flow water tank that was used for daily water consumption. The house was first occupied by mine superintendent George Hearst. Hearst's stay in Virginia City was of short duration as he pursued other mining interests out of state, but the Hearst fortune began in this building in 1860. Bonanza King John Mackay moved into the superintendents quarters after his home at the corner of Taylor and Howard was destroyed in the great fire of 1875. Although married, Mackay lived the life of a bachelor, as his wife Mary Louise resided in Paris and London for more than two decades. She was a very popular lady and did not feel her place was on the Comstock. She did not like living here and chose, instead, to live in Europe.

Mackay relocated to the International Hotel up on C Street at Union in 1877, when it reopened after the great fire. Total production from the Gould and Curry Mine from 1860 to 1881 was $15.6 million dollars, making it a major producer on the Comstock. Now known as the "Mackay Mansion" it has served as a museum and tour of the offices for many years.

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