The Nevada section of the Lincoln Highway is now Highway 50. It was still well travelled until I-80 was completed in the 1970s. Use of the road dwindled and in 1986, Life magazine named the stretch of Highway 50 from Ely to Fernley “The Loneliest Road in America.”
Thankfully, that is not the end of the story. The Nevada Commission on Tourism took the name and ran with it. Shortly after the Life article, they issued “Highway 50 Survival Guides,” encouraging visitors to stop and see towns along the road, including Fallon.
Two maps from the kit
a "passport" to get stamped in each town
The guide contained lists of services available in each town
A short blurb explaining attractions in Fallon
Originally, there were 5 towns listed along the Loneliest Highway: Ely, Eureka, Austin, Fallon, and Fernley. This guide, distributed in 1986, contains a list of attractions in each town, a directory of services, a Nevada Highway map, a Pony Express pamphlet, and passport.
The program is still going, though it has been updated several times since it's debut in 1986. It is now a singular pocket-sized booklet. What similarities do you notice between the information here and in the original? What differences?
One of the changes made in 2016 is that Dayton, Carson City and Bake are now included, giving travelers more options about where to visit. If you collect 5 of the 8 stamps, you will receive a certificate like this one, along with a souvenir pin!
But how much remains of the original Lincoln Highway? Plenty! Along Highway 50 today you will still see the concrete posts popping up, as well as many historic structures that travelers in the 1920s would have seen, such as…
Sand Mountain is a popular tourist site, but did you know that from there you can see the ruins of the Sand Springs Pony Express station? This is not where the Lincoln Highway stop was, but is an interesting structure on its own merit.
Stokes Castle was completed in 1896, originally intended as a summer home for Anson Stokes and his family. It has long since been abandoned, but still guards over the town of Austin.
The Eureka Opera House is a beautiful building that is free and open to the public. Their curtain dates from the 1920s and you can go backstage and see signatures of acts that have performed throughout the years.
The town of Ely has many museums, including the Nevada Northern Railway Museum, which sits in front of the still-functioning train yard. You can also see the Depot Building, built in 1907.
Want to know more? Give it a try yourself! A sight-seeing trip to Ely and back can be done in a day and we know – we did it!
