Carson City Parks Foundation Holds open house Sunday at Wungnema House
Did you make a New Year’s Resolution to learn more about our community and its cultural heritage? We hope you did, but if you didn’t, it’s never too late. Kick-off 2020 by visiting the Wungnema House in Mills Park, as well as the Foreman-Roberts House on North Carson Street. These houses represent 2 different aspects of our community’s cultural heritage. Both historic houses are open from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The Wungnema House is the stone cottage on the east side of Mills Park across from Carson High. At the Wungnema House you can learn about some of unique and enduring contributions a family of Native Americans made to our area. Access to the Wungnema House is off Saliman Road, opposite Carson High School. There is no admission fee, and all ages are welcome.
Learn about the remarkable family of skilled Hopi stonemasons who built the Wungnema House shortly after WWII, their work, and their continuing legacy. Members of this extended family were responsible for the Wungnema House and many other distinctive homes and structures, large and small, in and around Carson City. Their work beyond Carson City included ranch buildings in Washoe Valley, portions of Thunderbird Lodge, and at least one church at Lake Tahoe.
The Wungnema family, directly and indirectly through other Native American masons who learned their craft from Ernest Wungnema while attending the Stewart Indian School, wove an enduring fabric which daily surrounds those of us who live and work in Carson City.
The Wungnema House served as the family’s home until the early 1970s, when they moved to a larger home. In 1977, the house was purchased by a developer, whose plans to turn the house into a restaurant fell through, after which the city acquired the house. The Wungnema House then fell into disrepair and became subject to on-going vandalism until 1999, at which time, using a grant from the National Park Service and Quality of Life Initiative funds, Carson City restored the house to serve as a museum and meeting place for small community groups and organizations.
For further information about the Foundation, visit their website at http://CarsonCityParks.org; their Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/CCParksFoundation, or write them at carsonparksfoundation@gmail.com, or at P.O. Box 3266, Carson City, NV 89702-3266.
- Carson City
- 2020
- all ages
- Buildings
- Buildings.
- carson
- Carson City NV
- Carson City Parks
- Carson City Parks Foundation
- Carson High
- Carson Street
- church
- City
- community
- Community,
- craft
- cultural
- cultural heritage
- developer
- Ernest Wungnema
- fabric
- Family
- foundation
- Heritage
- historic
- home
- homes
- hope
- Hopi
- information
- Lake
- learn
- life
- live
- local history
- meeting
- Members
- Mills Park
- Moved
- museum
- National Park
- Native American
- Native Americans
- new
- News
- NV
- Open House
- Parks
- Parks Foundation
- Quality
- restaurant
- school
- service
- Stewart Indian School
- tahoe
- Washoe
- Washoe Valley
- website
- Wungnema House
- WWII
- Carson High School
- Lake Tahoe
- high school