News From: NPEA Nevada Division
In 1849, Abner Blackburn and other prospectors heading to the California gold fields discovered the first Nevada gold where Gold Canyon reaches the Carson River at a place that later became Dayton. In the early 1850s, Spafford Hall constructed a log station and trading post to accommodate the needs of emigrants bound for California along the Overland Trail. Hall’s Station became the center of activity for the Dayton area and was the place where the first dance ever held in Nevada Territory occurred on New Year’s Eve, 1853.