Carson City's 1909 Classical Revival Executive Residence
606 Mountain Street, Carson City, NV 89703
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public tours have historically been free and limited. Ghost-walk tours that pass the mansion exterior are ticketed seasonally.
Access
Limited Access
Stairs to mansion entry; interior has multiple floors
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1909 · NRHP Listed · Official Nevada Governors Residence Since 1909 · George A. Ferris Design · Only Child Born In Mansion - June Dickerson
Nevada's governors operated without an official residence for the state's first 45 years of statehood. In 1907 the Nevada State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 10, known as the Mansion Bill, authorizing the purchase of a permanent site and funding for a governor's residence. The Mountain Street property in Carson City's historic westside was selected.
Reno architect George A. Ferris was commissioned to design the building. Ferris produced a Classical Revival composition that combined Georgian symmetry with Jeffersonian motifs. The two-story house is fronted by a two-story pediment portico supported by Ionic columns, with Greek Revival window moldings, balustraded terraces, and a hipped roof. The wood-frame structure is faced with stucco scored to suggest stone block.
Construction was completed in 1909. Acting Governor Denver Dickerson and his family — including his wife Una and infant daughter June — moved in during July 1909. June Dickerson, born during the Dickerson administration, is the only child born in the Nevada Governor's Mansion.
The mansion has served as the residence of every Nevada governor since 1909 and has been the site of state ceremonial events including inaugurations, bill signings, and visiting-dignitary receptions. A 1969 expansion added a southern wing including a state dining room sized for larger official functions.
Public tours have been offered intermittently across the mansion's history, traditionally during the Christmas holiday season and on selected weekdays. Tour availability is subject to the sitting governor's discretion and security requirements. The mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources
The Nevada Governor's Mansion's paranormal tradition is closely linked to the Dickerson family, the first governor's family to occupy the building. Una Dickerson and her infant daughter June moved into the newly completed mansion in July 1909. June Dickerson remains the only child ever born in the Nevada Governor's Mansion.
Collected accounts from successive first families, household staff, and overnight guests describe a recurring pairing: a woman in a long white 19th-century-style dress, often accompanied by a young girl in period clothing. The figures are most often reported on the second-floor hallways. Witnesses across multiple administrations have identified the woman as Una Dickerson and the girl as June.
A secondary cluster of accounts concerns the original 1909 portion of the mansion's basement, where staff have reported the sound of footsteps and the rustle of long fabric. Phenomena reported less consistently include doors closing on their own and the smell of perfume on the main staircase.
Una Dickerson is reported by some Carson City sources to have died in the mansion; the more reliable historical record shows she survived her husband's term and lived for many years afterward. June Dickerson lived into the 20th century. The Dickerson identification of the figures should therefore be treated as a community-attributed interpretation rather than a verified posthumous return.
The Carson City Ghost Walk includes the mansion's exterior on its seasonal route. The Nevada Office of the Governor does not promote the mansion as paranormally active; the residence's primary identity remains as the state executive residence.
Notable Entities
View the 1909 Classical Revival mansion from public sidewalks along Mountain Street. The two-story pediment portico supported by Ionic columns and the symmetrical Georgian-Jeffersonian massing are clearly visible from the street.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Carson City, NV
Abraham Curry built his Carson City home in 1871, two years before his death in 1873. Curry was arguably the most consequential figure in early Nevada history — he laid out the town of Carson City in 1858, donated the land for the state capitol, supervised construction of the Nevada State Prison and the US Mint, and served as the first warden of the prison. The one-story masonry house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
Monroe, NC
The Blakeney House at 418 E. Franklin Street in Monroe, North Carolina was built in 1903 by W.S. Blakeney, president of the Bank of Union, who relocated from South Carolina. The Classical Revival design is by the noted Charlotte firm of Hook and Sawyer, with John Wallace as contractor.
Dallas, TX
Old Parkland is the restored campus of Dallas's first public hospital, founded in 1894 and rebuilt in 1913 in the Classical Revival style. After closing as a hospital, the deteriorating complex was acquired by Crow Holdings in 2006 and reopened in 2008 as a private office campus and headquarters.