Lincoln Highway Stops in Churchill County

Because cars in the nineteen-teens and twenties were slower and needed more maintenance, there were significantly more stops along the Lincoln Highway than we’d expect today. In Churchill County alone, there were 11. Here is what the guide had to say about them:

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Courtesy of The Lincoln Highway Digital Image Collection, Transportation History Collection, University of Michigan Library (Special Collections Research Center)

According to legend, New Pass was named by an early pioneer who believed he found a new way through the mountain. The station was built in the early 1860s and bought by Wells Fargo in 1866. Now all that remains are the ruins of the Pony Express Station.

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While the Alpine Ranch was originally a mining area, and was eventually ranched by many people (including Warren Williams of Fallon), all that is left now is a wide open expanse of pasture.

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The blocks that were used to create the ranch house came from White Rock Station in 1879. The ranch here looks virtually identical today.

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The station at Westgate used to be a mail station in the nineteen teens but it was also a Civilian Conservation Corps camp’s source of water in the 1930s.

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Amie Bermond, the Frenchman, ran this station after 1904 and became a well-known character along the highway and in the surrounding areas. In 1986, the Navy tore down the station and now it is used for Top Gun training.

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Courtesy of The Lincoln Highway Digital Image Collection, Transportation History Collection, University of Michigan Library (Special Collections Research Center)

Sand Springs Station, at the foot of Sand Mountain, was also the site of a stop along the Pony Express route. The building burnt down in the 1930s, but the foundation remains.

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Courtesy of The Lincoln Highway Digital Image Collection, Transportation History Collection, University of Michigan Library (Special Collections Research Center)

Originally Salt Wells was a Borax plant, but it closed down in 1872. It became a station during the Fairview and Wonder years. All that is left of it now is a wide expanse of desert and brush.

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NAS Fallon now owns the land that the ranch was on and modern Highway 50 completely bypasses it. This site was also known as May Ranch, and is close to Grimes Point.

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The City of Fallon got its name from Mike Fallon’s post office in 1896. The town was officially founded in 1902, and the courthouse was completed in 1903. In 1905 Fallon became the distribution center for the mines at Fairview and Wonder.

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William Hazen established the town in 1903 for the Newlands Project workers. By 1916, the population of the town began to dwindle.

Churchill County