[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 27, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6554-S6555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  100TH ANNIVERSARY OF MINDEN, NEVADA

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate a historic and 
important event in Nevada. On July 2, 2006, the town of Minden will 
celebrate its 100th anniversary.
  Located in the scenic Carson Valley, Minden is known for its beauty. 
The Carson Valley Mountain Range provides an imposing, but beautiful, 
background for the small community of 7,500. Minden is widely known for 
its small town charm because the town was mapped and planned before a 
single brick was laid. Visitors and residents of Minden can see the 
planning even today in the neatly laid streets and buildings. Minden 
retains its turn-of-the-century feel, and most of the original 
architecture is still evident in the town.
  Like other communities in the Carson Valley, Minden was founded as a 
result of the railroad. In 1905, the Virginia and Truckee Railroad 
explored possible locations to expand their rail line. Heinrick 
Frederick Dangberg, offered to donate land from the H.F. Dangberg Land 
and Livestock Company for the expansion. The railroad accepted his 
offer, and Dangberg submitted a plan for the new town to the Douglas 
County Commissioners in 1906. In choosing a name for the new town, 
Dangberg honored his birthplace near Minden, Germany.
  The Virginia and Truckee Railroad carried gold and silver from the 
famed Comstock Load in Virginia City, NV. But by the time of their 
proposed expansion in 1905, the railroad began to look for new sources 
of revenue. They found a lucrative revenue source in transporting 
livestock, and the new branch of the railroad that ran through Minden 
became the main shipping route for livestock going from San Francisco 
to Chicago.
  With the railroad and other businesses in the town, Minden and the 
neighboring community of Gardnerville became the center of commerce for 
the Carson Valley. In 1915, there was a growing sentiment to move the 
courthouse from Genoa to a more populated area. More than 150 people 
from the Carson Valley traveled to the state capital to see the Nevada 
Senate vote to move the county seat to Minden. With the completion of a 
new courthouse in 1916, Minden replaced Genoa as the county seat of 
Douglas County.
  In 1925, one of the most famous Minden residents, David Derek

[[Page S6555]]

Stacton, was born. Over the course of his life, Stacton won wide 
acclaim as an author and a poet. He was honored as a Guggenheim fellow 
in 1960 and 1966. Although he passed away at the early age of 41, 
Stacton left us many critically acclaimed histories on subjects from 
Napoleon to Nefertiti.
  By 1950, the Virginia and Truckee Railroad was struggling, and the 
operation was closed down. For a town that grew out of the end of the 
railroad line, this loss was a big change for the community. The people 
of Minden met this challenge, and other industries soon came to Minden, 
many of them high-tech firms from California. Among those companies was 
Bently Industries, the maker of vibration monitoring equipment. Today, 
a steady wave of high-tech companies continues to relocate to Minden 
and Douglas County.
  This small town--which got its first traffic light in 1985--has 
managed to move itself into the 21st century, without losing its 
historic charm. Every June, thousands of Nevadans travel from all over 
to take part in the Carson Valley Days. Cohosted by Minden and 
Gardnerville, Carson Valley Days is an annual event with a parade, 
carnival, live music, truck pull, and arts and crafts. This historic 
event was started in 1910 by H.F. Dangberg, and it is now in its 96th 
year.
  Mr. President, I am proud to have a town like Minden in my home 
State, and I congratulate the people of Minden on their 100th 
anniversary. I encourage all my colleagues in the Senate and all the 
people of this great country to experience this beautiful and historic 
part of Nevada.

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