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 during the Roman Campaign during WW 2 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 balcony was supported by rods extending out from the building. The roof had a battlement terrace.
The family occupied the Stokes Castle for only a short time. The family had 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, NV and Dunsmuir, CA until he died on July 19, 2018. It is now operated by the Austin Historical Society.
I have traveled past Stokes Castle along Highway 50 many times but I did not take any photos. My Daughter, Denise sent me the one I used for this article after a recent visit to Stokes Castle. There is a Nevada historical marker that tells about the structure.
This article is by Dayton Author and Historian, Dennis Cassinelli. You can order his books at a discount on his blog at denniscassinelli.com Just click on ”order books”