Lakeview

For twenty-two years, I have driven over the hill between Washoe and Eagle Valleys and admired the off-white and green-trimmed house. I probably drove past a thousand times without realizing Lakeview was a small ghost town that played a significant role in Virginia City and the Virginia & Truckee Railroad.

A town with a view

By 1863, James M. Thompson established a small station at the summit of Lakeview Hill, between Washoe and Eagle Valleys. Lakeview was named for its view of Washoe Lake. The town boasted two hotels and stables.

Lakeview became a way-station in 1865 for Dyer’s Toll Road, which ran between Carson City and Steamboat Springs. Thompson’s Inn was popular with hunters, fishermen, and picnickers. Sadly, the inn burned on March 19, 1871, just as Thompson was preparing to lease out the building.

Lake View was awarded a post office as Washoe County on April 5, 1881. However, the name was later modified to Lakeview. On July 17, 1890, the post office was re-designated as Ormsby County.

Virginia & Truckee Railroad

On February 18, 1869, construction began on the Virginia & Truckee, V&T, Railroad. Eventually, the line would expand to connect Reno and Carson City, with spurs to Virginia City and Minden. In 1871, Mill Station, two miles from Lakeview became a lumber stop for the V&T.

V&T completed the line in 1872, and Lakeview became a flag station. In addition, one of the town’s hotels became the train station.

Lumber

Lumber was a critical resource needed to develop and mine in the Comstock Lode. It was needed to build houses and businesses and provide fuel. More importantly, mines required lumber to access deeper ore.

The Comstock Lode grew so expansive that prior methods of reinforcing walls and ceilings were insufficient. German engineer, Phillip Deidesheimer, inspired by a honeycomb, developed a system referred to as square set timbering. Mines were reinforced with interlocking with vertical and horizontal timbers.

If you have been to Virginia City, you will notice the lack of trees. Mines looked west toward the Sierras to fill their insatiable hunger for lumber. Two lumbermen who held extensive forested lands were W.S. Hobart and S.H. Marlette. The partners clear-cut land around Lakeview.

The timber is disappearing from the west of Town. The constant drain is for the use of mills and mines. Since completion of the railroad, our view to the west is barren of trees. We hear some talk about extending the railroad by a winding, circuitous route to Lake Tahoe where the supply of timber would seem inexhaustible.

Carson Daily Appeal, 1870

Marlette and Hobart expanded their cutting over the crest into the Lake Tahoe basin in 1879, and they constructed a sawmill east of Incline Village. A tramway transported lumber from the sawmill down the water company’s flume ten miles to Lakeview. The V&T transported lumber to the Comstock.

Virginia & Gold Hill Water Company

Virginia City was missing another critical resource… water.

In October of 1871, engineer Hermann Schussler proposed to bring water from Hobart Creek to Virginia City. The suggested route included flume and tunnel to Red House, pipe to Franktown Creek to Lakeview, inverted siphon pipe to Five Mile Reservoir, then flume to Virginia City.

On June 11, 1873, construction started on the flume pipeline. The V&T Railroad delivered iron to Lakeview, where it was formed into the pipe on site. Workers laid the final section of pipe on July 25, 1873, an astonishing seven miles of pipe was installed in rugged terrain in only six weeks.

The Virginia and Gold Hill water system became renowned around the world. The water company installed a second pipeline in 1875 and a third in 1887.

Lakeview House

In 1873, the water company built a four-bedroom house on the site of the old inn. Superintendent of the Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company, Captain John Bear Overton, maintained quarters at the house until his retirement in 1906, although he never lived there. Water attendants included Tom Higgins from 1899 to 1906, Joe Berger from 1906 to 1935, and Harry “Red” McGovern.

In 1875, a small Pelton Wheel under the kitchen provided electricity for the house. The wheel remained in place until 1957. The water company maintained a private telephone line so the stations could stay in contact with each other and the office in Virginia City.

End of an era for Lakeview

Lakeview lost its post office on October 17, 1894, when service transferred to Empire City. Marlette and Hobart stopped milling in 1896.

The Curtis-Wright Corporation purchased the water system in 1957 with plans to develop a missile-testing system using a large volume of water. However, they lost interest, and the state of Nevada purchased the water system in 1963.

Lakeview House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 5, 1978.

Lakeview V&T Trail

Today, Lakeview is a housing development on the outskirts of Carson City. The Lakeview House is a private residence almost 150 years after being built.

Carson City designated a 40-acre park at the end of Hobart Road. The undeveloped park has a non-motorized trail that follows the V&T route.

The State Historical Marker sits across Highway 395 from Lakeview House.

Visiting Lakeview and hiking the V&T trail is a nice way to spend the morning. After your hike, you could grab lunch at the amazing LA Bakery or have a soak at Carson Hot Springs, then head to Sassafrass Eclectic Food Joint.

Want more ghost towns?

For information on more than three hundred ghost towns in Nevada, visit the Nevada Ghost Towns Map or a list of Nevada ghost towns.

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References

• Carson City, Nevada: Lakeview Park
• Gamett, James and Stan Paher.  Nevada Post Offices: An Illustrated History.  Nevada Publications, 1863.  Page 134.
• Historical Marker Database: Virginia & Gold Hill Water Company
• Lingenfelter, Richard E and Karen RIx Gash. The Newspapers of Nevada: A History and Bibliography 1854-1979. University of Nevada Press, 1984.
• Myrick, David F. Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California: Volume 1. University of Nevada Press, 1992. Pages 136-165.
• National Park Service: National register of the historic places nomination form
• Nevada Expeditions: Lakeview
• Paher, Stanley.  Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps.  Nevada Publications, 1970.  Page 47.
• Paher, Stanley.  Nevada Ghost Towns and Desert Atlas.  Nevada Publications, 2009.  Page 15.
• Mary Sauer Raty: Pioneers of the Ponderosa
• Shamberger, Hugh. The story of the water supply for the Comstock. United States Department of the Interior. 1972. Pages 16-23, 27, 29, 39, 42,
• Stories from Mimi: The Water Works: Virginia City& Gold Hill, Nevada
• Wikipedia: Reno, Nevada

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