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Stokes Castle

Stokes Castle

Stokes Castle Overview

Anson Phelps Stokes, mine developer, railroad magnate, and member of a prominent eastern family, built Stokes Castle as a summer home for his sons.

The family only used it for two months.

Category

  • Architecture
  • Person

Marker Type

Blue marker

Nevada Historical Marker Number

Stokes Castle is Nevada Historical Marker #59.

Click here to view the complete list of Nevada State Historical Markers.

County

Lander County, Nevada

GPS Coordinates

39.493476, -117.079916

Nevada Historical Marker Transcription

Anson Phelps Stokes, mine developer, railroad magnate and member of a prominent eastern family, built Stokes Castle as a summer home for his sons.  After the castle (or the tower, as the

Stokes family always referred to it) was completed in June 1897, the Stokes family used it for two months.  Since then, with one possible exception, the structure has remained unoccupied.

Stokes Castle is made of huge, granite stones, raised with a hand winch and held in position by rock wedging and clay mortar.  The architectural model for the castle was a medieval tower Anson Stokes had seen and admired near Rome.  This building originally had three floors, each with a fireplace, plate glass windows, balconies on the second and third floors, and a battlemented terrace on the roof.  It had plumbing and sumptuous furnishings.

Stokes Castle has served for decades as an iconic Nevada building often photographed by enthusiasts of Western history.

STATE HISTORICAL MARKER NO.59

STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE

AUSTIN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

References Used

Stokes Castle