Jacobsville

Jacobsville came first and lost everything to the town it spawned. Founded on the Reese River in 1859 by George Washington Jacobs — first sheriff of a county that then covered nearly all of northeastern Nevada — it was an Overland stage and mail station, a Pony Express stop by 1860, and briefly the county seat, with a courthouse, two hotels, and the first telegraph relay on the line. Then Austin's silver pulled everyone six miles up the canyon, and the seat went with them the same year. A few foundation stones are left.

What the plaque says

Site of the town of Jacobsville is one-half mile north. Founded on the banks of the Reese River in 1859 by George Washington Jacobs who was the first sheriff of Lander County, farmer and businessman, it was the Overland Stage and Mail station and became a Pony Express stop in 1860. In the early 60's, it had a population of about 400 people, and boasted of the first telegraph relay station, a post office, court house, three stores and two hotels. It was the first county seat of Lander County comprising practically all of northeastern Nevada. The county seat was moved to the more population town of Austin the same year it was established in Jacobsville. The only remnants are a few stones used in the foundations. The Reese River, just west of here, was discovering by the exploring party of John Reese in 1854.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Austin — 6.2 mi
  A silver boomtown that hit ten thousand and fell to under two hundred — the living ghost town at the high middle of US-50

More markers nearby

• Stokes Castle — 5.5 mi
• Austin — 5.6 mi
• International Hotel — 5.9 mi
• Austin Churches — 6.1 mi