Reno, Nevada History Samuel Brannon led a small party of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across Nevada in 1847 on his way to inform Brigham Young that the ship Brooklyn had arrived safely in California. Brannon and his group met Brigham Young at the Green River and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of settling in California. After spending a short time in the Salt Lake Valley, Brannon left with another small group to return to California. One of the participants in that group was Abner Blackburn. Three years later Blackburn was again a member of a group crossing Nevada on the way to California. Blackburn and six others stopped at Carson Valley near what is now Genoa and opened a trading post. A year later, John Reece and other Church members returned to the area and established a more permanent trading post that became known as Mormon Station. In 1854 the Territory of Utah created Carson County and appointed Apostle Orson Hyde as the probate judge. Hyde and a larger company of Latter-day Saints settled in Carson Valley in 1855. Another group of settlers was sent to the Las Vegas area about the same time. Both groups of colonists were recalled to Utah in late 1857. Church members returned to Nevada later in the nineteenth century and settled mainly in communities along the eastern edge of the state close to Utah. In 1912, the Moapa Stake was organized with congregations in Overton, St. Thomas, Bunkerville, Littlefield, Mesquite, Panaca, and Alamo. Completion of the railroad from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City in 1905 began a steady growth of Church membership in the Las Vegas area. A Sunday School was organized there in 1914 and by 1925 there was a large congregation in Las Vegas. Membership also increased in central Nevada during the first part of the 20th century and the Nevada Stake was organized in 1926 with congregations in Ely, Lund, McGill, Metropolis, Preston, Snake Valley, Ruth, and Wells. In 1909, Elders Louis A. Decker and Willard B. Farr arrived in Sparks, Nevada. They found 25 Latter-day Saint families in Sparks and Reno and began door-to-door contacting. In February 1910, California Mission President Joseph E. Robinson organized a congregation in Sparks. Included in the congregation were Church members in Sparks and Reno and others scattered from the California border to Wells, Nevada. Church growth was steady in the Reno area, and in February 1941 the Reno Stake was organized. The stake included members as far north as Lovelock, as far east as Fallon, and as far south as Tonopah. Church membership in Nevada increased to 14,223 in 1950; 23,890 in 1960; and 44,282 in 1980. Today there are over 143,000 members of the Church in Nevada in 30 stakes with 249 congregations. A temple was dedicated in Las Vegas in 1989. On April 12, 1999, Church leaders announced plans to build a temple in Reno.