On May 26 1863, Captain Anderson Morton, commander of the St Clair and Cedar County militia ordered his soldiers to burn the town and kill all the bushwhackers. All buildings were to be burned, but the household goods were to be spared. The soldiers marched to each house and said to the resident “We are going to burn this house; get your things and get out in 20 minutes. If you want any help we will help you, but the house must be burned.”
In all, about 75 house and other buildings were burned. The courthouse, stores, and the best dwelling house were all destroyed. Only about a dozen houses were spared. After the close of the war the smell of fire was on everything and the town sat solitary on the prairie. It was not raided anymore, for it was not worth raiding, but occasionally war parties passed through and said, “Here is where Nevada City once stood”
Rebuilding itself out of the ashes in 1868, homes and business, which has been destroyed, were rebuilt. New modern buildings were erected. Many immigrants came to the county to start a new life.
Nevada City was incorporated in 1869, at which time it dropped the word “City” from its name. The city’s first sidewalks were made of wooded planks. Nevada has its first police and about 300 persons were living in Nevada.
Excepts from the Sunday Edition of the October 30, 1983 Nevada Herald story “Nevada rose from ashes after the Civil War”
Above Text as seen on the website: nevadamo.org 