The station was constructed with the discovery of gold in 1848, in what was then Utah Territory. A trading post was needed to sell supplies to emigrants, military and other travelers who stopped prior to crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains. Gov. Brigham Young appointed a Mormon Apostle to save as probate judge and spiritual head of the community that was named Carson County, Utah. The judge changed the name to Genoa. In 1857, Young ordered all Mormons residing there to travel to Salt Lake and take up arms to defend the city from the advancing U.S. Army. Between 1860-61, the station was a stop on the short-lived Pony Express. In 1861, Congress created the Nevada Territory, which Genoa fell under. Genoa is the site of the first permanent nonnative settlement in Nevada. Mormon Station is located inside the park of the same name.