Stokes Castle
National Register of Historic Places

Stokes Castle

Austin, Lander County, Nevada
Listed
August 13, 2003
Type
Site
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
03000757

About this property

Stokes Castle is a three-story stone tower located near Austin, Nevada. It was built by Anson Phelps Stokes, a mine developer, railroad magnate, and banker. Intending the building as a summer home, Stokes began building the castle in 1896, completing it in 1897. The castle is patterned after a tower that Stokes had seen and admired in the Roman Campagna in Italy. The castle is built of hand-hewn native granite, and the stones were hoisted into place with a hand winch and held in place with rock wedging and clay mortar. The kitchen and dining room were on the first floor, while the second floor contained the living room and the third floor housed two bedrooms. Each of the floors had a fireplace, and the second and third floors each had a balcony. The roof had a battlemented terrace. The family occupied the Stokes Castle for a short time. The family traveled west in June 1897 with friends and spent about a month in the castle. They spent a few more days in October 1897. They returned in the summer of 1898, but they sold their mine, the milling equipment, and the castle, and never returned to the town. Eventually, the castle fell into disrepair until Molly Magee Knudsen, a cousin of Stokes, bought the castle in 1956. The tower was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. The "Castle" was owned by HW Trapnell of Austin, Nevada and Dunsmuir, California until he died on July 19, 2018. It is now operated by the Austin Historical Society.

Location

Austin, Lander County, Nevada
39.49354, -117.08000

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Native Heritage
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Settlement
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Nearby Historic Sites

Lander County High School
Industrial
0 mi
Austin Historic District
Civil War
0.3 mi
Nevada Central Turntable
Civil War
0.3 mi
Austin City Hall
Civil War
0.5 mi
St. Augustine's Catholic Church
Civil War
0.5 mi

Nearby Battles

Austin Nevada Stage Robberies — Wells Fargo Response
1871Frontier
0.6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Stokes Castle listed on the National Register?

Stokes Castle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 13, 2003.

What type of historic resource is Stokes Castle?

Stokes Castle is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Stokes Castle?

The period of significance for Stokes Castle is recorded as the industrial era, specifically around 1896.

Can I research the history near Stokes Castle?

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