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 Stokes
Castle in Austin, Nevada
As a summer home for his sons, Anson
Phelps Stokes - mine developer, railroad magnate and member of a
prominent eastern family, began to build the Stokes Castle in 1896. It was completed in the summer of 1897.
Patterned after a family painting of
Italy, the castle was used by the Stokes family for only a short
period. When they traveled west in June of 1897 with some of
their friends, they spent a month at the castle. In October,
they spent a few more days and returned in the summer of 1898. However, this time they sold out the mine, milling equipment and the
castle and never returned again.
The castle is three stories high and 50
square feet around. Built of hand-hewn native granite a
hand-operated windlass was used to raise the huge slabs of granite
into place. The first floor contained the kitchen and dining
room, the second floor was the living room, and the third floor
contained two bedrooms. On the first floor each room had a
fireplace and on the upper floors their wore wooden balconies.
Over the next half century the
castle fell into neglect and was owned by several individuals. In the early 1950’s a promoter tried to buy the structure with the
intention of moving it to the Las Vegas strip. However, Molly Magee
Knudsen, a cousin to Anson Stokes purchased it in 1956. Having
grown up hearing the stories about her cousins castle in
Nevada, she could not resist.
Molly, a New York socialite, soon turned ranch owner
and prominent citizen of Austin. Soon a chain link fence was placed
around the building to help preserve it form further theft and
vandalism.
Today the Stokes Castle stands as a sentinel on the
north end of Reese River Valley, a reminder of the heydays of Austin’s
past history.
Stokes
Castle has a well-maintained road leading to it and can be viewed year
round. Located on Highway 50 on the west side of Austin, this
historic building is well worth a look-see.
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