Welcome to Churchill County!
(Photo taken on EB US 50 @ LY/CH county line)

     

Churchill County
  • Area: 5,023 sq. miles
  • Population: 26,106 (2006 census)
  • Founded: November 25, 1861
  • Major Highways: US 50, US 95
  • Seat: Fallon (8,299)
  • Largest Community: Fallon (8,299)
  • Highest Point: Desotoya Peak (9,973')
  • Claims to Fame:
                            ~ Pony Express Route... Just follow US 50!
                            ~ Home to several ruins of Pony Express Stations
                           ~ Agriculture King of Nevada... dubbed "Nevada's Salad Bowl"



Welcome to Pony Express Country!
At the westernmost of Nevada's rural outback, Churchill County is a place of much history and celebration. It's name is derived from Fort Churchill, a post office and fort actually in Lyon County that was established on October 9, 1860. The Fort was named in honor of General Sylvester Churchill of Vermont, and although the fort itself cannot be claimed as Churchill's, the county nonetheless revolves around what is used to be: a travel corridor to get from end to the other. The corridor we're talking about is none other than the famed route of the Pony Express Trail (1860-1861), which is today roughly paralleled by US 50 for almost its entire length across the county. Churchill is perhaps best known for its outstanding Pony Express ruins, including one... Cold Springs Station which is the best preserved in the entire state, accessible via a 2 mile hike from the highway near Cold Springs. After the 'death' of the Trail, the turn of the century brought hope for Churchill County's arid desert land when the Newlands Project of 1902 was created, a system of canals and dams responsible for diverting water from the Truckee River to the Lahontan Valley. The Project created what is now known as "Nevada's Salad Bowl", today home to thousands of acres of farmland, the state's largest source of agriculture in ironically, one of the driest portions of Nevada! Soon afterward, Fallon was born and quickly became the county seat and one of the few communities in Nevada strictly founded on farming.

Other than Fallon's wonderful "Hearts O Gold" cantaloupes and spectacular sunsets, Churchill County shares an equal gossiping with history seekers, particularly, the Pony Express. It's no wonder that nearly all of its historical markers either focus or make mention of the famous Trail. In an arid, desolate county like this one, it's hard to fathom yourself as one of the riders, traversing this remote landscape with no end in sight. What the riders wouldn't have given for a piece of blacktop like US 50, a solid line of direction in a robust sea of sagebrush. Boys and girls, this is a county where history can hide without many worries from a modern world. Unfortunately, it's a county where most people fly right on through without much notice. To that I say... what a shame. A person could truly spend his entire life just wandering the open hills, remote mountains and dry deserts of Churchill County, finding new ghost towns, prized rocks for collections, remote trout streams and even another Pony Express Station, forgotten and unclaimed by Nevada cartographers. To each his own.

The Markers
In terms of markers, Churchill unfortunately doesn't grant much in terms of variety. Most of its markers are accessed via US 50, so Fallon provides a comfortable base to work from. Fallon is a fast growing community, (some say a soon-to-be bedroom community of Reno and Sparks), with numerous motels, casinos/restaurants, grocery stores, auto repair shops, hospitals and sporting goods stores, truly a full-fledged "oasis" in the middle of an arid desert. Such amenities are needed too, considering that Fallon is the only town of significance within the county's 5,000 square miles! From the Forty Mile Desert (#26) to the county courthouse (#161) to New Pass Station (#135) and Wagon Jack Shelter (#110), prepare for lots of fun in this wild county!





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Historical Markers of Churchill County (16)

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