Author details 'Loneliest Road' for Oct. 26 Frances Humphrey Lecture at Nevada State Museum
Stephen Provost, author of several books about the Silver State, will be the featured lecturer at the Nevada State Museum's Frances Humphrey Lecture Series on Thursday, October 26 at 6:30 p.m. His talk details U.S. Highway 50 in Nevada, the former Lincoln Highway that now goes by the nickname "America's Loneliest Road."
"The story of U.S. 50 begins with the Overland Trail and the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental road," Provost wrote. "Conceived in 1913, the Lincoln followed the trail through mountain passes and across lonely vistas, presenting a challenge for early travelers crossing the Silver State in less-than-reliable early Fords and REOs and Hupmobiles."
Well before there was a highway in Nevada, though, the route was already lonely with towns experiencing population decline.
"Once booming mining towns like Hamilton, Eureka, and Austin were in the process of becoming little more than sleepy ghost towns," Provost wrote. "The spaces in between were all but empty, and some, like the Fallon Flats, were virtually impassable, creating a challenge for road builders that was only overcome with great difficulty."
The Lincoln Highway spanned a greater distance across Nevada than in any other state, he wrote, passing through places like Ely, Fallon, Dayton, and Carson City.
Though the route changed multiple times, the highway's legacy has been U.S. 50, a road that continues calling to road-trippers and adventure-seekers filled with imagination.
Author Stephen H. Provost takes you on a journey along this iconic highway, and through its storied history, with photos of the route's most interesting sights then and now.
This lecture is presented in person and virtually via Zoom Meeting. Admission is $10 for adults. Museum members are free.
Register at https://www.carsonnvmuseum.org/event/frances-humphrey-lecture-series-the...
The Nevada State Museum is located at 600 N. Carson Street in Carson City.