Labor Day on the Comstock and C Street parades

At noon on Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, the Union marched onto North C Street in Virginia City to defend the town from Confederates who were robbing its saloons. The Comstock Civil War Reenactors staged the street battle as the close of their Labor Day weekend. When it was over, the street went to the Labor Day Parade, which the Virginia City Tourism Commission organizes and which ran from noon to one o’clock. Spectators line C Street on wooden board sidewalks, in front of historic buildings and boutique shops. Unless a parade is noted otherwise, Virginia City parades start at the Fourth Ward School, now the Historic Fourth Ward School Museum & Archives.

Floats, horses, and an announcer

The commission describes the parade as a celebration of “the American labor movement and all the achievements of workers in our country.” In 2018 News 4 counted more than 50 entries, representing Comstock heritage, the military, schools, labor organizations, and youth groups, and called it one of the largest parades of the year. The commission’s entry form lists the kinds of entries: floats, marching units, cars, walking groups, and horseback entries. The form also asks whether an entry plays music and whether a firearm will be discharged, and it takes a short description for the announcer to read. Deny Dotson, who was the commission’s tourism director in 2018, said that year: “Virginia City is proud to honor and celebrate the men and women of the past and present who have made our country what it is today.” Todd Tuttle now holds that post.

The commission puts the number of parades down C Street at eight a year on one page and at more than eight on another. After Labor Day, its entry form lists a Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11 and Christmas Lights Parades on Dec. 5 and Dec. 12.

Battle Trains on the V&T

The parade ends a weekend the reenactors call Heritage Civil War Days and Battle Trains, held Sept. 5 through 7 in 2026. On the Saturday and Sunday, Battle Trains left the Virginia & Truckee Railroad depot at 165 F St. at 11:20 a.m. and 3 p.m., and passengers watched the battle between Union and Confederate troops from their seats. A Champagne Battle Train left at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Visitors were invited to come “in your finest Victorian garb” and join the ladies for High Tea.

The saloons have live music through the holiday weekend. In 2022 that meant a band at the Red Dog Saloon on Friday and Saturday nights, karaoke at the Ponderosa and the Virginia City Cigar & Bar on Saturday, and Canyon White playing at Canvas Café from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

A camp at Miner’s Park and a drilling contest

The weekend has changed names and program over the years. In 2018 News 4 reported “The Great Civil War Days,” Sept. 1 to 3. It was preceded on Aug. 31 by a Know Your History Day at Miner’s Park, where hundreds of Comstock Civil War Reenactors kept a camp open to the public and answered questions at stations set up around the park. Five Battle Trains ran from the 1870 V&T depot that year, with riders rooting for Yankee and Rebel soldiers “as they shoot it out.” The Champagne train went out for a night battle. On Sept. 2 the Fort Point Brass Band played a Victorian Ball at Piper’s Opera House.

By 2022 the program was called Heritage Days and Battle Trains, and the Visit Virginia City listing described “hundreds of reenactors.” That year’s weekend also held the Comstock Rock Drilling Contest, from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3. In the listing’s words, “the miners of today compete” in “an event dating back to the mining days on the Comstock.” The parade went down C Street at noon on Monday, Sept. 5, under a heat advisory for western Nevada that lasted through the long weekend.

The miners of the lode

On Labor Day 2026 the commission saluted “the miners, railroad workers, craftspeople, business owners, and generations of hardworking people” who built the town. The miners came first. Virginia City grew on the Comstock Lode, discovered in 1859, and it is one of only eight historic landmark districts in Nevada. One of the largest and most profitable mines in town was the Mexican Mine, which employed hundreds of people. It was owned by the Maldonado brothers, who came from Mexico. Associate Guest Curator DT Burns notes that the brothers shared mining methods with Henry Comstock in the late 1850s and early 1860s. They later employed John Mackay, who gained valuable expertise working for them.