Huxley

Churchill County

After experiencing financial trouble, the Central Pacific Railroad, which had been operating in the area for three decades, sold out to the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1899. In the very early 1900's, the Southern Pacific not only rebuilt old line, but also established some new line. One of the new lines established in 1902-1903, followed the Carson route instead of the old Truckee route. This allowed them to avoid the steep country around White Plains hill. New stations were built at Huxley, Parran and Ocala to accommodate the new route. While the new route had its own issues such as lack of water in the area, it was still more successful. Production of salt and other non-metallic minerals in the area had been in decline. Further developments occurred in the area based on the new location of the railroad. While these endeavors only lasted less than a decade, it's safe to say that they never would have started in the first place without the rail line changes. New gold discoveries were made at Jessup in late 1907 and early 1908. The town saw a population of approximately 300 residents and several businesses open. A daily stage line was established from Jessup to Huxley. It was established for the purpose of bringing people to and from the area via train. Jessup was already declining by 1909. In approximately 1910, miners in the area started producing lime. The kiln that you see in the photographs was built for that purpose. I've seen sources say that this lime endeavor ended in 1915. I'm not sure if it ended in 1915 or sometime prior. In "A Cultural Resources Overview of the Carson and Humboldt Sinks", which is where the majority of the information on this page comes from, it simply states: "To the north of Parran, near the station at Huxley, miners began to derive lime from limestone in a kiln in 1910. The operation lasted less than five years, probably, for the kiln appeared abandoned in 1915."

Post Office: None

Last Trip/ Road Conditions. The last trip was in May of 2019. The photographs are from that trip. Huxley sits off of the rural section of highway between I-80 west of Lovelock and Highway 50 at Fallon.