About

The Genoa Courthouse Museum is located in downtown Genoa, Nevada’s first permanent settlement, and was constructed by Rufus Adams and Lawrence Gilman in 1865 when Genoa was the county seat of Douglas County. After the 1910 fire that decimated the town of Genoa, the courthouse was rebuilt.

However, in 1916, the county seat was moved to Minden — about 9 miles east-southeast of Genoa — and the courthouse was sold to the Douglas County School District for just $15. It was then transformed into an elementary school and served for 40 years as a school before it closed in 1956.