The rise of France's Second Empire, established by Louis Napoleon III in 1852, became associated with an architectural style that first appeared in an extension of the Louvre at the beginning of the new emperor's reign in France. Whereas the Italianate style, from which Second Empire borrowed much of its massing and details, was part of the Picturesque movement, the Second Empire style was considered thoroughly modern. Its defining feature was the Mansard roof, generally pierced with dormers, named after seventeenth-century French architect Francois Mansart.

Sandy and Eilley Orrum Bowers rose and fell with the fortunes of their Comstock mine, becoming the focus of one of early Nevada's more poignant stories. Scottish-born Eilley Orrum Cowan was one of a few women living in the Comstock Mining District when the 1859 strike occurred.

One of the first businesses to appear in a mining camp was a saloon. These institutions addressed the need of miners seeking a drink, but most saloons also offered warm, homey settings. In the early days, saloons also functioned as courtroom, church, and community center as needs arose. The Comstock saloon followed this pattern, echoed throughout in the mining West. The businesses appeared early and diversified quickly.

Richard Jose was born in Cornwall in 1862. After his father died in 1876, Jose came to Nevada searching for his uncle. As an adult, Jose claimed a birth date of 1869, promoting the story of a mere child traveling alone to the American West. He also changed the pronunciation of his name, and hence his ethnicity. Jose, pronounced like "Joe's" and rhyming with "rose," is Cornish. Later in life, he added an accent, as in José (pronounced hoh-zay), to affect an exotic Hispanic heritage.