Dayton family earns centennial status

Members of long-time Nevada families, including a Dayton rancher, will receive Centennial status this year, according to Liz Warner, coordinator for the Nevada Centennial Awards Program.

Centennial status is given to farms and ranches which have been in the same family for 100 years or more.

The awards ceremony will take place during the Wild West Fair in Reno at 11 a.m. Aug. 28. The public is invited.

The oldest ranch is the Quilici Ranch in Dayton, established in 1881 by Luigi Quilici, who emigrated from Italy. The 600-acre ranch is currently owned by his grandsons, Salvatore, Ledo and Larry Quilici and their sister Rita Selmi.

Sal Quilici, 71, said the ranch is almost totally surrounded by development but is still a haven for bald eagles, deer, wild turkeys and other wildlife.

"We still raise hay and cattle. It's a working family ranch, and hopefully, it will go for awhile longer," he said. "The younger generation is doing most of the work now."

Quilici said the family procrastinated applying for the distinction for several years, but finally went ahead with the process.

"We felt the ranch was deserving because of its heritage," he said.

Other families to be honored are:

• Peter Hanson Anker established his ranch in Lovelock in 1887 after emigrating from Denmark. He was a county commissioner, served as assemblyman in the 22nd Session of the Nevada Legislature, and was the grandfather of Cliff Young, former Chief Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court.

• Four generations of Anker's descendants, including 91-year-old granddaughter Phyllis Anker Bendure, are being inducted for two portions of the original ranch they own. The Anker Ranch has been divided up among three different members of the family. Two of them applied for Centennial status on the property they own and have incorporated as Ankers, Inc., and Anker Ranch, Inc. So, we're recognizing both separately, said Warner.

• Skip's Place in Fallon was established in 1907 by Frances Harrigan. Harrigan was born in Gold Hill in 1873 and moved to Fallon when he was 11 to live with his grandparents after the deaths of his parents. He raised bees for honey, turkeys and cantaloupe, as well as Durham cattle. A 1911 article in the Fallon Eagle newspaper stated that Harrigan shipped 592 cases of honey, needing an eight-horse team to bring it to town. His granddaughters Yvonne Prettyman and Sidney Ellen Imeson own the original ranch.

• The Lawrence Ranch, also in Fallon, was established in 1908 by Charles A. Lawrence who worked as a surveyor for the Bureau of Reclamation. Lawrence raised hay, sheep, horses and turkeys, and had a small dairy. After his death, his wife added chickens to the farm, raising 1,000 chickens for eggs and meat. The ranch is currently owned by grandson Ronald Lawrence.

Forty families have received Nevada Centennial status since the program started in 2004. For more information about the Centennial Awards Program, visit the Nevada NRCS website at www.nv.nrcs.usda.gov/centennial_awards.html.