A presentation of the Nevada Historical Society, High Noon with Neal Cobb is a monthly history series that delves into Nevada topics with local experts. Neal Cobb is a passionate historian and honorary curator for the Nevada Historical Society. Each month he is joined by a different guest presenter.

This month’s presenter is architectural and general historian Michael A. “Bert” Bedeau, who will examine how Virginia City and the Comstock evolved in the 20th century from a dying mining town into a booming tourist mecca. What wider social and cultural trends and characters effected this evolution? How can we recognize and preserve this fascinating aspect of our Nevada history?

Bedeau recently retired after serving for 23 years as District Administrator for the Comstock Historic District Commission and the Comstock History Center Museum in Virginia City. As a member of the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office staff, he worked as both an architectural historian and general historian. He gained museum experience from the time the Comstock History Center opened in 2005. He is proud to have been a founding board member of Preserve Nevada and served in that capacity for 15 years. He served on the board of the Society for Commercial Archaeology, holding several positions including being a co-editor for the journal.

Register to join High Noon with Neal Cobb on Zoom. All episodes are streamed live on Facebook, and recordings of past episodes are available on the library’s YouTube channel.