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Nevada County
Storey County, Nevada
Virginia City - the Comstock Lode and Mark Twain's Nevada - from the Comstock Lode (the 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode beneath Virginia City unleashed the richest silver strike in American history - the mines produced over $300 million in silver and gold (billions in today's dollars), financed the Union cause in the Civil War, enabled Nevada's statehood, and built San Francisco - Virginia City's Victorian architecture, the C Street commercial district, and the mines beneath the city preserve the most intact Nevada boomtown in existence) to Mark Twain's Virginia City years (Samuel Clemens worked as a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise in Virginia City from 1862-1864, adopting the pen name Mark Twain and developing the humorous western voice that would define American literature).
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What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Storey County Emergency Management – Emergency Coordination Center, 372 South C Street, PO Box 7, Virginia City, NV 89440 | (775) 634-7443; manages the county Emergency Operations Center and coordinates with the Nevada Division of Emergency Management, FEMA, and mutual aid partners.
Sheriff/Dispatch: Storey County Sheriff’s Office – 205 S. C St, PO Box 498, Virginia City, NV 89440 | Main office (775) 847-0959 | Fax: (775) 847-0924 | Non-emergency dispatch (775) 847-0950; also maintains Lockwood and TRI (Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center/McCarran) substations. Detention Center – 911 State Route 341, Virginia City, NV 89440 | (775) 847-0929. The 24-hour Communications Center dispatches Fire, Rescue, Ambulance, and Law Enforcement, and also handles animal complaints.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: NV-341 serves Virginia City, the county seat, connecting Reno to the north and Carson City to the south through the Virginia Range.
Notes: Storey County, founded 1861 and named for Edward Farris Storey, is Nevada’s smallest county by land area (264 square miles) – smaller only than the independent city of Carson City – and one of its least populous (roughly 4,100-4,300 residents), though its population peaked at over 16,000 in 1880 during the Comstock mining boom before dropping to just 568 by 1960.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Storey County Community Development / Fire Marshal – confirm current phone via storeycounty.org.
Notes: Storey County is genuinely home to the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center (TRIC), one of the largest industrial parks in the world, anchoring the Tesla Gigafactory – one of the largest buildings in the world by footprint and a transformative manufacturing investment for the region. Virginia City itself is a National Historic Landmark District built on the Comstock Lode, the 1859 silver discovery that funded much of the Union war effort during the Civil War and helped bring Nevada to statehood in 1864; Mark Twain worked as a reporter for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise in 1862-64, a formative period in his development as a writer.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Storey County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via storeycounty.org.
Federal: VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System (Reno, accessible north).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Storey County Community Library – 175 Carson Street/175 E. Carson St, PO Box 999, Virginia City, NV 89440 | (775) 847-9311 ext. 108 or (775) 847-0541 | Hours: Mon-Thu 10 AM-5 PM; operated under the umbrella of Community Chest, Inc., located upstairs in the Community Youth and Development Center adjacent to Miner’s Park.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Virginia City National Historic Landmark District, the Comstock Lode heritage sites, and the Virginia & Truckee Railroad heritage excursions are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Comstock Lode heritage and Mark Twain’s formative journalism career here are distinctive historical facts covered nowhere else in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Storey County Assessor – confirm current contact via storeycounty.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Storey County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control – (775) 847-0950; deputies respond to lost/injured animal reports and transport animals to the county shelter.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Storey County Public Works – confirm current contact via storeycounty.org.
NOTES: Storey County is the eighth jurisdiction in the Nevada v2 A+ sourced redo’s third and final batch (Storey, Washoe, White Pine). The genuine Comstock Lode heritage and Tesla Gigafactory presence are distinctive local facts. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Storey County
Storey County is the Comstock Lode county – Virginia City’s silver made Nevada a state, financed the Union Army, and built San Francisco, and the preserved Victorian boomtown where Mark Twain became Mark Twain is the finest intact 19th-century mining city in the American West.
Virginia City (the county seat, population ~900) draws over a million visitors annually to its Victorian saloons, mine tours, and C Street boardwalks – one of the most visited historic sites in Nevada.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Storey County Assessor at 26 South B Street, Virginia City, NV 89440, phone 775-847-0959. NV assessed at 35% of taxable value.
Courts & Legal
Storey County District Court at 26 South B Street, Virginia City, NV 89440, phone 775-847-0967, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
26 S. B St., Virginia City, NV 89440
(775) 847-0967
Genealogy
County-level record sources
First Judicial District Court, Storey County (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Virginia City, the county seat, is a National Historic Landmark District associated with the Comstock Lode silver rush.
Local societies
No dedicated Storey County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
First Judicial District Court, Storey County 26 South B Street (mail: Drawer D), Virginia City, NV 89440 (775) 847-0969
Storey County is Nevada’s smallest county by area, seated in Virginia City – the historic silver-mining boomtown of the Comstock Lode.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
In Nevada, probate is handled by the DISTRICT COURT in the county where the decedent resided. Nevada recently overhauled its small-estate thresholds through SB 404, effective October 1, 2025 – these are current, higher figures; older sources online may still show the previous, lower amounts.
Affidavit of Entitlement (small estate affidavit, NRS 146.080) – available when the estate has no real property in Nevada and the gross value does not exceed $30,000 for most heirs, or $150,000 if the person claiming the property is a surviving spouse. At least 40 days must have passed since death. This skips court entirely – the affidavit is presented directly to the institution holding the property, along with a certified death certificate.
Set Aside Without Administration (NRS 146.070) – available when the estate’s net value does not exceed $150,000. Unlike the affidavit, this requires filing a petition with the court and can be used to transfer real property. If there’s a surviving spouse or minor children, the court can set aside the entire estate for their support, ahead of creditors.
Summary Administration (NRS Chapter 145) – available for estates valued between $150,000.01 and $500,000. Still requires an attorney and court filing, but with expedited notice requirements and fewer formal hearings than general administration.
General (Formal) Administration – required for larger or more complex estates, or when there’s a will contest or dispute over the personal representative.
STEP 2: FILING FOR SET ASIDE, SUMMARY, OR GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
File a petition with the District Court in the county where the decedent resided.
The court appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (for summary/general administration).
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors; creditors generally have a limited window to file claims.
The personal representative inventories the estate’s assets.
After debts, taxes, and expenses are paid, the personal representative (or the court, in a set-aside) distributes the remaining assets and closes the estate.
What it costs
Court filing fees vary by county – commonly ranging from about $72 for set-aside petitions up to several hundred dollars for general administration.
Attorney fees for summary or general administration commonly follow the statutory percentage schedule: 4% on the first $100,000 of the estate, 3% on the next $100,000, and declining percentages above that – though many attorneys quote flat fees instead.
The Affidavit of Entitlement has no court filing fee.
Nevada has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
26 S. B St., Virginia City, NV 89440
(775) 847-0950
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
26 S. B St., Virginia City, NV 89440
(775) 847-0967
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
NV DHHS — Storey
dhhs.nv.gov
Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center
carsontahoe.com (Carson City — accessible)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Storey County Health – confirm current contact via storeycounty.org.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Virginia City
Population: 4,100
Area: 264 sq mi (Nevada's smallest county by area)
Established: 1861
Tier: 3
Public Records
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Search public records for Storey County residents.
