Are you heading up Highway 395 from Reno, Nevada, to Lakeview, Oregon? You may be exploring beautiful southeast Oregon. Or you could be headed to Lakeview to hang out with Clint and Heidi Smith and Jack at Thunder Ranch, my other happy place.
Over the last few years of visiting and documenting ghost towns and historical sites, I found so much to explore off Highway 395. Below is a compilation of things to do along the drive from Reno to Lakeview. Stops are only a few miles at most off the highway and many add only a few minutes to your trip.
Much of the trip follows the Nevada, California, Oregon Railway, also known as the “Narrow, Crooked and Onery.” Other stops are ghost towns, emigrant trails, war between the states
Reno: The Nevada, California, and Oregon Railway Depot
The Nevada, California, and Oregon Railway (N.C.O) became notorious for conflict, leading it to be nicknamed the “Narrow, Crooked, and Onery” and the “Northern California Outrage.”
Survey work for the N.C.O Railway began in 1880 to save construction costs; the line was narrow gauge. Construction started in Reno, with the first spike driven on May 28, 1881. The original plan was to build north to The Dalles, with spurs to Klamath Falls and Eugene.
(Photo credit: Noe Hill)
Due to infighting and monetary issues, progress was slow. The company was fraught with issues. At one time, two boards were separately trying to run the company. Two men were shot at an infamous stockholder meeting in Reno on September 27, 1881. Although Daniel Balch recovered from his wounds, Squire Scoville was not so fortunate. The trial made history, the first time a court hearing in Nevada was transcribed on a typewriter.
Service arrived in Alturas, California in 1908 and in Lakeview, Oregon, in 1912. The N.C.O. declined after 1913. The Reno Depot was closed in 1918 and headquarters were moved to Alturas, California. Southern Pacific Company purchased the Nevada, California, and Oregon railroad on April 30, 1925.
Today, the N-C-O Depot is the Depot Brewery and Distillery. You can enjoy a meal with the adult beverage of your choice.
Have a little time to spend in Reno?
Spend some time visiting the Historical Sites around Reno and the Truckee Meadows. Sites include emigrant camps, including the Donner Party, stage roads and stations, ghost towns, Reno divorce houses, and aviation history.
Doyle
Doyle was settled in the 1870s and named in honor of Oscar Doyle, who donated land for the town. The Nevada, California, and Oregon Railway reached Doyle on June 6, 1888, connecting the town with routine service to Reno. Around 1898, Henry Butters purchased the Albert E. Ross ranch in Long Valley and added a church.
William and Rosa Galeppi, Swiss emigrants, relocated from Last Chance (now Frenchman Dam) and purchased the Ross ranch. The couple had ten children, seven boys and three girls. Rosa renamed the church St. Mary’s Chapel Constantia and had visiting Catholic priests hold services. Catholic services were held at St. Mary’s Chapel Constantia until 1920. In 1994, the church was relocated to its current location in Doyle, next to the cemetery.
Doyle’s school was housed in the town’s church. Grades one through eight were held in a single room, with only three students in a class. In the mid-1940s, a fire destroyed much of Doyle, including the church. Some of the children decided as the school burned, they no longer needed to complete their homework, much to the dismay of the teacher.
The Dixons owned the store in Doyle. They had a hotel on the second floor and a home behind. On hot summer days, children enjoyed trips to the store to play with the owner’s twin boy and girl and delight in a special treat of ice cream sandwiches.
Milford
Milford was settled in 1856, making it one of the oldest settlements around Honey Lake. Settlers built the first flour mill in 1861. A post office opened in 1864, and Milford had mills, blacksmithies, hotels, stores, and a school.
Milford was at risk from the Dixie Fire, but thankfully, firefighters saved the area.
Janesville
Fort Janesville was active during the Pauite War in 1859. Settlers constructed a loopholed stockade and a bastion on the southeast corner, but an attack never happened.
Janesville lost in a run for the Lassen County Seat to Susanville by only one vote.
Janesville Wigwams
The Wigwans are on private property, but the owner was happy to tell me about the motel.
The Janesville Wigwams was a motor inn on Highway 395 before the road was realigned. Each structure had a suite, bedroom, bathroom and tiny kitchen. Several teepees were around the property. The current owner told me the motel owner was racist. When he learned he had to let “blacks and Jews” stay at the hotel, he closed the property. I grabbed a few pictures from the road.
Peter Lassen’s Grave
Peter Lassen, for whom Lassen County was named, was born in Denmark in 1800. He emigrated to California in 1840, wanting to farm the rich lands. He established the Lassen Cutoff of the California Trail, which departed from the main route at Rye Patch, Nevada. Emigrants used the cutoff from 1848 until 1853, when less challenging routes were established.
Lassen was murdered on April 26, 1859, in Black Rock Canyon outside of Susanville. He was traveling to Harden City, Nevada, to prospect for silver.
Lassen was traveling with Edward Clapper and Americus Wyatt. Lassen and Clapper were shot and killed, but Wyatt escaped, saying a hidden sniper shot them. The attack remains a mystery; thoughts are that Lassen and Clapper were killed by Paiute Indians, disgruntled travelers on the Lassen Cutoff, or even Wyatt.
Lassen and Clapper’s bodies were buried at the site of the attack. In November, Lassen’s remains were re-buried by a large tree at his ranch outside Susanville. In 1990, rockhounds discovered a skull and upper body bones, which were later determined to be Clapper’s. His remains were interred alongside Lassen in 1992.
Susanville & The Sagebrush War
Roop built his fort and trading post in 1854, making it the first non-native structure in Lassen County. In 1861, Susanville and the surrounding area created Roop County, Nevada. Disputes over the border resulted in the 1863 Sagebrush War. Roop’s Fort was the encampment for the Nevadan side of the war. The war lasted a total of 4 hours, with 2 injuries.
This Fernley & Lassen Railroad depot was built in 1927 to replace a previous depot. It served passengers until 1979. In 1987 the fire department planned to burn the station as a training exercise, but locals protested and saved the historic building.
Standish
Standish had a unique beginning. Settlers based the town on philosophy, not mining, ranching, or transportation. In 1897, it became the second settlement of the Associated Colonies of New York. Drawing on the ideals of Plymouth colony founder Myles Standish and the economic plans of religious leader Brigham Young, residents were expected to live in town and work in the fields during the day. Standish recruited Honey Lake Colonial Club citizens to create the Standish Colony.
Legal battles over water rights inhibited the town’s growth, but a post office opened in 1899. Standish Hall was built in 1907, with a store on the ground floor and a meeting hall upstairs for various social groups. Neils Mercantile operated into the 1980s, selling groceries, fresh-cut meat, hardware, and work clothing.
Litchfield
Litchfield was founded in 1914, anticipating the arrival of the Fernley and Lassen Railway. The railroad reached the town in 1913, but it was three years before the station opened. Heard’s Market opened in 1948, selling groceries, ranch supplies, and cowboy boots. Litchfield was a shipping hub until 1954 when the depot closed.
Dayton/Lathrop City
George Lathrop and Thomas Harvey opened Lathrop’s Station on the Nobles Emigrant Trail. The partners sold the station to the Shaffers in 1862, when it was renamed Shaffer’s Station. A townsite was planned in anticipation of the emigrants and the arrival of the Transcontinental Railroad.
A post office opened in 1873 under the name Dayton. When the Transcontinental Railroad never arrived, the town faltered, and the post office closed in 1875.
Wendel
The Nevada-California-Oregon Railway (N-C-O) built Wendel as a station stop in 1914. Wendel may have changed names more than any other town. In chronological order, the settlement went by Upper Hot Springs, Schaeffer Hot Springs, Smithon, Boyd, Hot Springs Station, Purser, Antola, Caloreta, and Wendel.
Just as the town of Wendel had many names, several towns had the name Wendel. Wendel in Lake County, Oregon, was a stop on the N-C-O Railway for a brief time. Both Wendels were named after the friend of Thomas Moran, the President of the N-C-O.
Wendel was the junction of the Susanville branch of the railroad where crews switched up. The town had an engine house, a water tower, and a powerhouse. The post office closed on December 3, 1993, and the rails were removed except where they were embedded in the road.
Wendel was an important station. It was the junction of the Susanville branch and where crews changed. The town had an engine house, a water tower, and a powerhouse.
The post office closed on December 3, 1993, and the rails were removed except where they were embedded in the road.
Amedee ghost town & kiln
Amedee was named after Amedee Depau Moran, a N-C-O Railway owner. For a decade, Amendee served as a terminal for the N-C-O.
While nothing marks the town now, Amendee once competed with Susanville and was used as the county seat following a disastrous fire in Susanville in 1893. Between the 1890s and early 1900s, it was a main shipping center for ranchers and dairymen because it had railroads and steamboats to ship goods across Honey Lake. A post office operated from 1890 to 1924.
Amedee was a destination town with hot springs, saloons, gambling, and outdoor recreation, including paddle boats on Honey Lake.
(Photo credit: UC Davis Library)
In the early 1890s, the Amedee Lime Works shipped limestone to Reno for processing. In 1893, Charley Falding constructed a stone kiln and Amedee to process the lime on site. Mining lasted into the 1920s, but despite the high quality of the stone, the remoteness and high shipping costs doomed the Amedee Kiln.
Moving the N-C-O terminus to Wendel led to Amedee’s downfall. In 1950, Jack and Margaret Humphrey purchased the entire town for thirty-two dollars and fifteen cents. They were the only bid in a tax sale.
Noble’s Trail, California
In 1851, William Noble developed a shortcut of the Applegate Train in Nevada to Lassen’s Cutoff. The route shortened the trail to northern California. Pioneers used it extensively until the arrival of railroads in the 1870s.
Ravendale
Student attendance at Ravendale Elementary declined to no students in 1939. The school trustees questioned if they needed to continue paying the teacher’s salary; the California Attorney General decided the issue, and yes, they had to pay the teacher.
Ravendale was a station on the N.C.O. It had a post office from 1910 to 1920. And again in 1921. The town was named after the significant number of ravens in the area, adding to the unsettling feeling.
The Ravendale motel operated in the 1950s. The Ravendale Christian Church now resides in the old hotel rooms. It is not a welcoming church with offers to join the Sunday service.
Termo
Termo was the terminus of the N.C.O. in 1900, thus the unusual name. A post office was opened in 1908. Once the N.C.O line extended to Madeline, then Lakeview, Termo became a ghost town.
Madeline
Madeline was a stop on the N.C.O. Later, the line was taken over by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The stop was active as a livestock shipping center.
Madeline Meadows, Land & Irrigation Company, tried to develop the town—the advertised pictures of the town depicted orange trees growing along the irrigation ditches. Having lived not too far from Madeline, I think they did some creative photo editing because citrus trees would never survive the winters.
A post office opened and closed multiple times, 1875 to 1878, 1879 to 1882, and 1187 and 1902.
Likely
Northward progress was slow due to elevation changes. The N-C-O arrived at Likely on October 1, 1907.
Residents could not agree on the name of their new town. A rancher mentioned the townsfolk would likely never agree on a name. Some humorous soul suggested they name the town Likely; the rest is history.
Alturas
The N.C.O. relocated its headquarters to Alturas following the sale of the southern leg of the Western Pacific Railroad. In 1917, they built a large Mission Revival as the office.
The N.C.O. didn’t have the funds for five bells in the tower. Only one bell was real; the rest were wooden replicas.
The N.C.O. depot, or “whistle stop,” was built in 1908. The depot is now home to the Alturas Garden Club. In 1915, the depot was moved, stone by stone, to the current location.
Chimney Rock
Thomas Denson was one of the first non-native settlers in the Pit River Valley. A master craftsman, he built a log cabin around a sandstone pyramid. He carved a chimney into the rock. His cabin was completed in 1871 and was the second building in the Pit River Valley.
Davis Creek
A log cabin began Davis Creek in 1869, and the first post office opened ten years later. At one time, the town sat on the southern edge of Goose Lake. A ferry transported cargo and passengers to Lakeview, Oregon at the north end of the lake.
The N.C.O. arrived at Davis Creek in 1911, and the ferry was discontinued.
The realignment of Highway 395 in the early 1960s bypassed the business section of town.
Willow Ranch, California
The Crane Creek and Willow Ranch Lumber Companies operated between 1929 and 1959. Crane Creek was the first lumber mill to operate in Modoc Forest. In 1926, they produced 194 million board feet for the Fandango Logging Unit. They had a standard gauge railroad connected to the narrow gauge Nevada, California, and Oregon Railroad, which ran between Reno, Nevada and Lakeview, Oregon.
(Photo credit: CSU)
Willow Ranch Lumber Company was operating in the 1940s. Logs were cut on the west side of Goose Lake and transported to the mill via ferry. On a good day, the journey took five hours. The boats were 26′ by 8′ and had metal teeth at the front and rear to protect the craft.
The remaining structure is a sawdust burner, also referred to as a wigwam, teepee, or beehive burner. Wood waste was loaded into the opening and fell to a furnace below. Most burners went offline in the 1970s when they were banned due to environmental concerns.
New Pine Creek, California, or is it Oregon?
New Pine Creek started as Pine Creek. Once settlers discovered there was another Pine Creek while applying for a post office in 1876, they threw “New” into the name.
A surveying mistake led to confusion. Like Aurora and Sylvania it was unclear in which state New Pine Creek was located. Now, the post office is on the Oregon side, so California residents have Oregon addresses.
Lakeview N.C.O. Terminal
The N.C.O. used the Lakeview terminal for passengers and freight. It was purchased in the 1920s by the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1982, private owners purchased the property.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
WANT MORE GHOST TOWNS?
For information on more than five hundred ghost towns in Nevada & California, visit the Nevada Ghost Towns Map or a list of Nevada ghost towns.
Learn about how to visit ghost towns safely.
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