History of Nevada Law & Legislature
In 1861, Governor James Nye decided to pronounce Carson City as the official legislature site of Nevada. Following this decision, the first legislative meeting was held at Warm Springs Hotel- a hotel owned and operated by Abraham Curry. As Nevada's legislature progressed, meetings gathered in other places, such as the original Ormsby County building in the 1860's and then eventually the State Capitol Building. Nine members worked together to form the original Nevada council in 1861, but after the first meeting, that number grew to thirteen.
Starting in 1919, the Nevada legislature began a practice called "Little Federalism," in which each county acquired one member of the Senate no matter that county's population size. The era of "Little Federalism," which set the Senate membership at seventeen, lasted until 1967.