HISTORY
Phone:
(775) 423-7134
Address:
42500 Austin Hwy
Middlegate, NV 89406
HISTORIC MIDDLEGATE HISTORY
Middlegate Was Named By James Simpson In The 1800's. His Journal "Across The Great Basin In 1859." His Exploration Served The Stage Lines And Wagon Trains That Crossed The Country. Simpson's Journal Is Filled With Tribulations And Encounters During His 1859 Journey. He Writes Of Meeting A Friendly Naked Indian At The Middle Gate Who Was Surrounded By Several Dead Rats And Lizards That Had Been Killed For Food. It Was At This Spot That The Overland Stage &; Freight Company Built A Station To Serve The Mines South Near Tonopah And East To Ely.
As James Simpson Mapped The Route For The Overland Stage Company, He Thought The Cuts In The Mountains Looked Like "Gates" So He Named Each West Gate, East Gate And Middlegate, It Was An Active Station And In 1859 The Pony Express Used It To Change Horses For The Riders. After The Short 18 Month Run The Pony Express Was Replaced By The Now Much Faster Telegraph, Middlegate Continued To Act As A Stage And Freight Station Until The Early 1900'S As The Trains And Automobile Came Into Service It Replaced The Long And Uncomfortable Stages But The Freight To The Gold & Silver Mines Continued To Use The Wagons For The Much Needed Supplies.
The War Brought The Need For A Paved Highway And The Lincoln Highway Was Designed To Accommodate The Increasing Traffic, It Was The First Paved Highway Across America. During This Transition Middlegate Was Abandoned And Much Of The Original Building Was Carried Off By The Local Ranchers And Miners.
In The 1940'S Ida Ferguson Bought The Property At A Government Land Auction, She Hoped To Restore The Station To Its Original Glory. She Converted It To A Cafe, Bar And Gas Station And Operated A Successful Business For Many Years, The Rerouting Of The Highway In 1960 Took Much Of Her Business And She Soon Sold Middlegate And Retired, It Had Many Owners Over The Years As The Lack Of Electricity And Phones Proved To Be A Real Hardship.
In 1985 It Was Purchased By The Stevenson Family With The Plan To Restore The Old Station, With The Help Of The Churchill Museum Much Of The Building Was Restored, It Is Still A Work In Progress, All The Artifacts Here Were Found In This Area, None Are For Sale. Today, We Are Dedicated To Preserving The Station's Place In History.
Enjoy Your Visit!
PONY EXPRESS HISTORY
From April 1860 To October 1861, Dozens Of Brave Pony Express Riders Delivered Mail Between Sacramento, California And St. Joseph, Missouri. The Distance Was 1,800 Miles, And It Took Pony Express Riders Ten Days, Which Was Half The Time The Stagecoach Required For The Same Journey.
By Keeping The East Connected With The West, The Pony Express Held The Nation Together. Young Pony Express Riders Charged Across The Country On The Fastest Horses Available. Over Two Thousand Miles Of Wilderness
Was Crossed, Including A Section Of High Mountain Desert In Nevada. Today, This Stretch Of Nevada Has Been Designated "Pony Express Territory."
Welcome To Our 17-Million Acre Museum, Where Visitors Can Experience Nature, History , Art And Science. You Can Find It All In Pony Express Territory As You Explore Ghost Towns, Old Mines, Rock Art Sites And Nature Preserves. And At Night, You Can Enjoy Our Open-Air Observatory With A Great View Of The Heavens. Undisturbed And One Of A Kind, Our Doors Are Always Open In Pony Express Territory And There Are No Waiting Lines.
Take Time To Explore And Enjoy The Rich History Of Pony Express Territory. You Don't Have To Worry About Delivering The Mail On Time.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY HISTORY
Middlegate Station Also Sits On The Original Lincoln Highway, A 3,143-Mile "Rock Highway" That Stretched From New York To San Francisco, Bisecting The Heart Of America. A Piece Of That Original Highway Is Preserved At Middlegate.
Lincoln Highway Stretched 3,385 Miles Between New York City And San Francisco. It Was Sometimes Called The "Main Street Of The United States." The Highway Began Construction In 1914. After A National System Of Route Numbers Was Adopted In 1926, Most Of What Had Been Completed On The Highway Was Designated As U.S. 30.
The Idea Of The Lincoln Highway Came From The Productive Mind Of Carl Fisher, Who Is Also Responsible For The Indianapolis Motor Speedway And Miami Beach. With A Little Bit Of Help From Two Industrialists, Frank Seiberling And Henry Joy, An Improved, Hard-Surfaced Road Was Envisioned That Would Stretch Almost 3,400 Miles From Coast To Coast, New York To San Francisco, Over The Shortest Practical Route. Henry Joy Was The President Of The Packard Motor Car Company And Frank Seiberling Was The President Of Goodyear. These Two Men Played A Major Role In The Construction Of The Lincoln Highway. Before The Hard Road Was Thought Of It Was Easier To Get From One Place To Another By Train. At First Fisher's Idea Was Called The "Coast-To-Coast Rock Highway." The Graveled Road Would Cost About $10 Million Dollars, Which Was A Low Amount Even For 1912. Communities Along The Route Provided The Equipment And In Return Would Receive Free Materials And A Place Along America's First Transcontinental Highway. The Highway Was To Be Finished In Time For The 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition And Would Run From The Exposition's Host City, San Francisco, To New York City. Henry Joy Came Up With The Idea Of Naming The Highway After Abraham Lincoln. He Urged Fisher To Write A Letter Of Protest To Congress, Which Was Considering Spending $1.7 Million On A Marble Memorial That Would Be Dedicated To Lincoln. He Believed That A Good Road Across The Country Would Be A Better Tribute To The President.