Nevada Appeal at 150: Aug. 8, 1963: Carson City loses historical claim to fame

Carson City is no longer the smallest state capital in the United States.

Bob Dill, executive director of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce, said according to an unofficial tabulation, the Nevada capital can no longer use its now famous slogan, “Carson City, the smallest capital in the United States.”

Dill said, “We have long suspected that our capital city had exceeded the growth of at least one other state capital, but without official confirmation, we contacted the Chambers of Commerce of several other capital cities and received population estimates which proved a basis to our suspicions. However we still did not feel that our information was substantial enough for public announcement.”

He continued, “After contacting the local branch of the U.S. department of Commerce, we were still unable to confirm current population estimates. Finally, we requested current city population estimates from the city engineers of Pierre, South Dakota and Juneau, Alaska, feeling that their estimates would be realistic.”

Carson City has been undergoing a rapid population growth since 1960. The U.S. Census of that year recorded a city population of 5,162, an increase of only 2,080 over the 1950 census.

This continues the Appeal’s review of news stories and headlines during its Sesquicentennial year.