The W.C. Record House is significant for its architectural character and its intimate relationship with the life span of the town.

Winnemucca was settled originally as Frenchmans Ford on the Humboldt River. The arrival of the railroad in 1868 gave new important status to the settlement, not only making it the county seat, but a very vital shipping point causing a brisk demand for property and residences. This house is a link to those early times when the formation of the town was in its infancy, when West Second Street was one of the first residential subdivisions.

W.C. Record, the first owner, was in the lumber and building business.

He acquired the lot in May of 1874. He commenced building a small family dwelling reflecting the urgency of Winnemucca's growing pains. At the same time, this modest structure added the grace, dignity, and a feeling of permanency the new town sorely needed.

The house was designed in a vernacular Gothic Revival style, unusual to Nevada. The Gothic Revival style was popular for a short time prior to the growth of Winnemucca resulting in only this one example remaining in Winnemucca.

The house, through its growth and evolution has managed to retain much of its original integrity. As it sits today in its original residential setting, near the center of town, it manages to convey an irreplaceable testimony to the prosperous early period when it was constructed 106 years ago.

Source: NRHP Nomination Form