Half Way House was a way station on the busy 1860s toll road from Carson City to the booming Comstock Mining District. Freight wagons, stagecoaches, and horseback riders
all paused at Half Way House to pay their toll, or stayed longer while mules and oxen were fed and watered, drivers and passengers had a meal, took a drink at the bar, or found a bed for the night. A century and a half later, archaeologists returned to the Half Way House site, digging for clues to everyday life at a Comstock Era way station.
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Sponsored by the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the Virginia & Truckee Railway.
This color, three-fold brochure presents a brief description of Half Way House and its role in the regional toll road network, as well as introducing the archaeological excavation conducted at the way station as part of the Virginia and Truckee Railway Reconstruction Project. It includes illustrations of coins, children’s toys, bottles, and other artifacts as well as views of the excavation. The brochure was produced on behalf of the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the Virginia and Truckee Railway.
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The Half Way House Poster, produced for the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the Virginia and Truckee Railway, illustrates the archaeological excavation conducted at the Half Way House site. The 18 x 12 inch color poster includes artifact photographs and scenes of the excavation and archaeologists at work.
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By Erich Obermayr
This 2007 web publication is a 39-page interpretive article on the Wadsworth and Columbus Freight Road, and its role in the history of Nevada transportation. It was produced under supervision of the BLM Carson City Field Office, for posting on the Field Office website, as cultural resource mitigation associated with a geo-thermal development project in the Salt Wells area of northern Nevada.
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Ely - Forging the Link: This Nevada Historical Marker (No. 269) describes Ely’s place in Nevada transportation and communication history. The Historic Marker Program is a cooperative effort involving the Department of Cultural Affairs, State Historic Preservation Office, which administers the Program, the State Historical Society which reviews proposed marker texts, and the Nevada Department of Transportation which assists in installing and funding the markers. (Read PDF)
Foot Path to Four-Lane is a 71-page, spiral-bound guidebook to historic transportation on the southeast shore of Lake Tahoe, Nevada. It was produced in 2005 on behalf of the Nevada Department of Transportation, as cultural resource mitigation associated with erosion control improvements along US Highway 50. It is distributed free of charge at NDOT and US Forest Service offices.
