A Country Within A Country - Molossia (surrounded by Nevada)
A man’s home is his castle - The Stage of Popish Toyes, 1581 . Many of us have our own homes, but how many have their own country?
Atlas Obscura is one of our go-to resources, as I share on this website (rvlivinfulltime.com). It has helped point us in the direction of some really strange, usually interesting places wherever we are that otherwise we would not have known about.
When I pulled it up in Lake Tahoe, I found that the Republic of Molossia was only about 50 miles away. Well, we had not been to Molossia, so we figured, “Why not?”
Located just outside Dayton, Nevada, and a little north of US 50 you’ll find the Republic of Molossia. The brainchild of President Kevin Baugh, he and a friend were teenagers when they first dreamed up the idea of developing their own piece of sovereignty. His friend abandoned the project, but President Baugh followed through with the Republic of Molossia, which exists on a little over one acre of land. Molossia is open for tours about once a month, other times by appointment, and the country opens its borders on certain holidays like the afternoon of May 26th, Founder’s Day.
Molossia has its own custom’s office, post office, bank, railroad, navy and space program. It’s currency is the “valora” which is tied to the current U.S. dollar price of Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. And, President Baugh claims the country is involved in an ongoing war which has never been resolved.with East Germany, whose only existing remnant is a small uninhabited Caribbean island near Cuba.
The country has a free lending library, has it’s own flag, and hosts a convention periodically of other micronation leaders. If you’re planning to visit, be aware of the Molossian Time Zone which is GMT -8 hours plus 39 minutes (Molossian Standard Time).
The capital city of Espora was renamed “Baughston” (sound familiar?) in honor of the President’s 51st birthday a few years ago.
We didn’t officially enter Molossia - not wanting to disrupt international relations or risk crossing the border illegally, but the experience was fascinating. For a guy to have a dream, follow that dream and see it come to life is really a pretty rare thing. Reminds me of what I have shared about Walt Disney - he not only had the vision, but he had the ability to execute in spite of all the naysayers around him who said it couldn’t be done. As Walt said, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”
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