Twelve Mile House
Thomas Wheeler built a station here in early 1860. Later, when discoveries were made at Aurora, it became the southern terminus of William Boyd's Toll Road from Genoa and the Cradlebaugh Toll Road from Carson City, as well as the northern terminus of the Bryon Toll Road which continued south toward the mines. About 1866 John Teasdale purchased the station, and around 1870 it was taken over by Henry & Dorcas (Olds) Crippen. It was at this time that the station became known as Twelve Mile House for its distance from Genoa. The Crippens built a new two-story hotel to serve travelers, with a saloon and fine dinners. Mr. Crippen died in 1879, after which Mrs. Crippen remarried and continued to run the business until 1889, when she was overcome by debt. She sold to H.H. Springmeyer in 1890, and soon his nephew Fritz Springmeyer and his new bride moved in.
The Springmeyers continued to own the Twelve Mile House into the twentieth century until they lost it to foreclosure in 1932. It passed through other hands for the rest of the 1930s, and around 1938 the two-story hotel building was dismantled for firewood. By 1940, it was deeded to the Washoe Tribe. A State Historic Marker and stone building of unknown origin remain at the site today.
