Historical Markers of Humboldt County
- HM 2 - Pioneer Memorial Park
- HM 21 - The Humboldt Canal
- HM 22 - The Humboldt River
- HM 89 - Paradise Valley
- HM 105 - Golconda
- HM 143 - Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins (1844-1891)
- HM 144 - Fort McDermitt
- HM 146 - McDermitt Indian Reservation (Northern Paiute)
- HM 162 - Camp McGarry
- HM 164 - Button Point
- HM 167 - Valmy
- HM 239 - Stonehouse
Nevada Landmarks Home Page
*HM 21*
-- The Humboldt Canal --
Location: Southern Humboldt County, Winnemucca
Directions: Along (East Winnemucca Blvd) Old US 40/SR 289
-- Marker just east of Interstate 80 --
NOTES: #21 has a few placement issues, one regarding its signage. #21 is only signed on the eastbound side of Winnemucca Blvd. Worse yet, it's signed a good 1/2 mile BEFORE the actual marker. Although this sounds like a good idea, the coming intersections just past the sign are extremely confusing, which can easily throw a hunter onto any one of these side streets. You need to keep heading straight underneath the Interstate. Just past the Interstate off-ramp, the marker will be on your right. Below is what you'll see...
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Location: 1
Visibility: 4 Accessibility: 1 Marker type: St (L) |
Date Conquered: 2/25/08
Nearest intersection: Interstate 80 on-ramps
Quick Description: A unique marker remembering one of the first large-scale canal systems to service North-Central Nevada.
Signed: Yes -- Original cut-out shield! Extremely faded. Signed on eastbound lane only.
Full Description:
Exact description as reads...
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The Humboldt Canal, sometimes termed the Old French Canal, coursed southwestward from Preble, near Golconda, toward Mill City. The present highway crossed it at this point, from whence it ran southerly toward the Humboldt County Courthouse on Bridge and West Fifth Streets.
The canal was conceived in 1862 by A. Gintz and Joseph Ginaca. The waterway, with a projected cost of $160,000, was to be 66 miles long, 15 feet wide and three feet deep, and with a fall of 35 feet. Its primary purpose was to supply water for over 40 stamp mills planned at the above Mill City, but it was also designed for barge traffic and some irrigation water supply.
Construction of the canal began in 1863. Louis Lay, a French emigrant from California, sub- contracted the first segment. Winnemucca city founder Frank Baud, another Frenchman, came on the project as a teamster.
About $100,000, largely French capital, was expended in building the Humboldt Canal to the Winnemucca area. Because of engineering errors and severe seepage problems between Winnemucca and Mill City, that section was never completed or used.
Several portions of the old canal are still visible in the Golconda area, in various sections of Winnemucca, and at Rose Creek, south of the city.
