Dozens of trips were made daily by mule-driven ore wagons to Virginia City, hauling timber and farm produce.

The streets were lined with restaurants, stores, saloons, livery stables, drugstores, bath houses and shaving emporiums.

The Washoe City post office opened in July 1862, closed in October 1888, reopened in November 1888 until December 1894.

Washoe City started to decline after the completion of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad to the Carson River in 1869.

[6] In Hell On Wheels season 5, episode 12 ("Any Sum Within Reason"), much of the critical action takes place in and around Washoe City.