Abraham Curry

Who was Abraham Curry?

Abraham Van Santvoord Curry is considered the founding father of Carson City, Nevada. A native of the state of New York, he traveled to the West Coast during the California Gold Rush and settled in Nevada's Eagle Valley, where Carson City was established.

Curry served as an assemblyman of the Nevada Territorial Legislature from 1862 to 1863 and was a territorial senator from 1863 to 1864. He was also the first superintendent of the Carson City Mint and the first warden of Nevada State Prison. Curry donated 10 acres of land for the site of the Nevada State Capitol, for which the state prison quarry provided the stone for its construction.

Curry spent the final years of his life building facilities for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad in Carson City. Though he had achieved prominence in Nevada, his wife claimed that he had only one dollar in his pocket when he died in 1873.