Donovan Mill Gets a Spike of Innovation

The Dust & Wonder Trail — a regional cultural corridor connecting historic and cultural sites across the Comstock, Carson City, and Carson Valley — drove another spike into the ground Tuesday, Oct. 20. Lucky for us, this four-foot steel railroad spike sculpture found its home at Donovan Mill in Silver City!

The Dust & Wonder Trail is a public art initiative formally established in summer 2025 through a collaboration between Visit Carson City, Visit Carson Valley, and the Virginia City Tourism Commission. Along with dedicated capital from the 1% transient lodging tax, the initiative receives grant support through Travel Nevada, civic, private, and in-kind donations.

Visit Carson City Arts & Culture Program Manager Eric Brooks wrote the Travel Nevada grant and led a 22-person steering committee responsible for developing and overseeing the project.

Modeled after a railroad spike provided by the Virginia & Truckee Railroad, the sculptures draw inspiration from the Golden Spike, which ceremonially marked the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869.

Reno sculptor Jeff Schomberg is creating 27 four-foot spikes while Carson City-based sculptor Seth Johnson is fabricating three 12-foot spikes (one for each region) plus a towering 69-foot sculpture destined for the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. Two additional interpretive sculptures will be placed at the Silver City Schoolhouse and St. Mary's Art Center in Virginia City.

Each sculpture features laser-engraved panels with site-specific historical narratives, while the body panels showcase a special word selected by each community. The words appear in English and other languages representing cultures that have shaped the individual sites and surrounding region.

For Donovan Mill, the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture collaborated with Brooks and his team on the sculpture featuring the word “Innovation.” The word appears in English (front panel), Washo (right panel), Paiute (left panel), and Chinese (back panel). Brooks worked with the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum and the Washoe Tribe to help ensure translation accuracy.

Sculptor Schomberg personally installed the Innovation spike on Oct. 20 Following the installation, Schomberg and Brooks toured Donovan Mill with Foundation board member and volunteer docent Lee Brunell.

With one more spike scheduled for installation in Carson City, work in Carson Valley is set to begin next week, while Comstock installations are expected to be completed by year's end. Once the wayfinding spikes are installed, Brooks' team will add logos and QR codes to all in order to connect visitors with an interactive map featuring more than 30 historic sites. The website will feature site information, photos, and interpretive narratives, encouraging visitors to explore Northern Nevada and experience the region’s rural arts and culture.

As the dustandwonder.org website states, "Explore hidden treasures and offbeat experiences through the art, history, and culture of the Carson Valley, Carson City, Silver City, Gold Hill, and Virginia City. It's a new way to discover the Old West."

Note: The Carson City sculptures were commissioned under the Travel Nevada America 250 grant program and are part of the Dust & Wonder Trail. The Carson City "Points of Unity – Discover What Unites Us" location map can be found at visitcarsoncity.com/points-of-unity