Dayton Cemetery.

Dayton Cemetery. Founded in 1851, this is one of the oldest constantly maintained cemeteries in Nevada.  The trail to the California Mother Lode passed directly in front and the wagon tracks can still be seen with careful observation.In 1849, the emigrants discovered gold in Gold Canyon and a trading post was opened here.

  In the 1850s, a permanent settlement was established.  In 1861, the town was officially named Dayton in honor or John Day, a surveyor who agreed to plot the town on the condition the place would be named after him.  That year, Lyman Crockett, later state treasurer, and Judge Calvin Hall located this cemetery.

  On December 9, 1861 Crockett dug the first grave.  Two of his children are buried here.    James Finney (“Old Virginny”) after whom Virginia City is named, is buried here.  Many people buried here are Italian Americans, as this ethnic group dominated much of Dayton’s early history.  Recognizing the potential of the land and the irrigating value of the Carson River, Italian Americans made this area the breadbasket for the Comstock.