George and Mary Gohn House
Virginia City National Historic Landmark District
The Beaverhead Saloon stood here in 1864 when this part of town was the commercial center. By 1878, business activity had shifted to Wallace Street and the saloon had been replaced by a small, two-story frame dwelling, which is now the southwest corner of the residence. Subsequent additions before 1904 gave the home its present appearance. First owned by Sarah McGarry, its simple lines and lack of ornamentation are excellent examples of vernacular frontier architecture and the town’s more permanent, second-generation buildings. A Victorian-era hairpin iron fence, manufactured by the Stewart Iron Works in Cincinnati, partially encloses the property. George E. Gohn purchased the home in 1897. He was one of the town’s first native-born residents. His wife, the former Mary Francis Vickers, was also born here to pioneer settlers. Upon his father’s death in 1906, Gohn took over the family’s long-established meat market. He was later elected to several offices and died in 1935. Mary remained in the home until her death in 1971 at the age of 100.
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