United
States Army General William Hazen generously donated his name to the town
of Hazen, Nevada. During his military career he commanded U.S. Army units
at Civil War battles like Shiloh, Corinth, Murfreesboro, and Chickamauga.
He also led a division for General Sherman when they went to visit Georgia.
Just thought you'd like to know that. As
far as I know, he never visited Nevada, and he was certainly quite dead
by the time Hazen was established in 1903, and was used to house laborers
as the Newlands Project began gearing up. In 1905 a new train route began,
and by the next year the Southern Pacific had constructed a roundhouse
and depot.
Hazen, in a nutshell, from the Nevada Department of Transportation:
When the Southern Pacific Railroad (S. P.) acquired the pioneer Central Pacific Railroad (C. P.) in 1899, it began a series of surveys aimed at improving the old line. These improvements were undertaken in earnest when William H. Harriman acquired control of the S. P. in 1901. Harriman began a series of 15 realignments within Nevada, the longest being from Sparks, via Hazen, to Brown's, eliminating the old Hot Springs Grade on the original C. P. line. In 1905 the S. P. incorporated the Fallon Railway to build from Hazen to Fallon. That same year the S. P. incorporated the Nevada & California Railway which built a standard-gauge connection from Hazen and Churchill, where it met the narrow-gauge Carson & Colorado. The Nevada & California purchased the Fallon Railway in 1906, and completed construction to Fallon in 1907. All of these improvements were part of the immense system improvements begun by Harriman The 1907 railroad spur between Hazen and Fallon, brought more construction workers to Hazen. With the Hazen cutoff and the construction of the spur to Fallon additional railroad facilities were needed. A depot and a roundhouse were built in Hazen in 1907. These buildings remained into the 1950s when they were moved to Wadsworth. The Lincoln Highway Association was established in 1912 for the purpose of establishing a highway that linked the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast. In 1913 the route of the Lincoln Highway was established in Nevada and followed the route of the old Overland road passing through the small town of Hazen on Nevada Street. At first the numerous improvements on the Lincoln Highway helped Hazen, but by 1944 the highway was re-aligned and no longer went through the townsite. Though the realignment was less than a half-mile south of its original alignment (on Nevada Street) the few remaining businesses along the old highway quickly failed, including the Palace Hotel. This realignment prompted Agnes and Tony Sever to move the Hazen Store and post office from Nevada Street, south to the newly aligned Highway 50 to stay in business. Further highway system improvements continued to isolate Hazen from the rest of the world. U.S. Interstate 80 was established in the 1960s as a replacement for Highway 40. The transformation of Highway 40 into 1-80 provided motorists, wishing to cross Nevada, with a modem four-lane alternative to the two-lane Highway 50. The old route through Hazen became known as Alternate Highway 50. Originally founded as a railroad stop, Hazen soon became associated with what was the premier early twentieth century reclamation project in Nevada - the Newlands Irrigation Project. In 1904, the United States Geological Survey established a commissary and the head of the United States Reclamation Service (USRS) moved his office from Reno to Hazen. This nearby construction of the various Newlands structures generated a need for housing, and the town of Hazen grew substantially. Hazen's relationship with the Newlands project kept the local economy vibrant until Lahontan Dam was finished in 1915. The USRS had moved its offices to Fallon in 1908, but many families remained in Hazen for sometime because of a housing shortage in Fallon. Hazen had no sheriff, but in 1904 a small wooden jail was erected by townspeople near Constable Judd Allen's hotel . Crime was a big problem in construction camps associated with the Newlands project and railroads, and Hazen was no exception. It seems that the crime wave
subsided after the townspeople of Hazen took the law into their own hands with the lynching of a local criminal. Despite early problems with crime, Hazen prospered. It wasn't until 1908 that Hazen took its first big blow when the USRS moved to Fallon and a fire devastated the business section of town. The people of Hazen continued to make efforts to keep the town alive after the great fire of 1908, rebuilding the downtown and constructing the Palace Hotel. The Palace Hotel faced the railroad tracks as did all the other businesses on Nevada Street in Hazen. The various commercial establishments along Nevada Street were able to garner business from both the railroad and the Lincoln Highway motorists. Even with advantages of the railroad and the highway, the town suffered another set-back when the Lahontan Dam was finished in 1915, ending the relationship between Hazen and large-scale construction projects. The Western Ore Purchasing company and ranching activities likely kept a few Hazen-ites around, but as transportation technologies changed and the Lincoln Highway/Highway 50 was re-routed the population of tiny Hazen dwindled. In 1977, postmistress Agnes Hart Sever finally was forced to close the Hazen Post Office.
-Architectural Inventory of Hazen, Churchill County, NDOT, 2004
The Hazen Store
THE HAZEN STORE
The Hazen Store is located in Churchill County along the Reno Highway (Alternate U.S. Highway 50), and the one track that remains of the Southern Pacific Railroad line that ran between Fernley and Fallon, Nevada. Three buildings comprise the Hazen Store National Register property: the store itself, a small railroad bunkhouse, and a garage. The three buildings were moved to their present location and orientation along the highway between 1944 and 1948, although they actually date to an earlier period. Since 1948, the significance of this complex of buildings has related to the highway, but they were originally associated with the railroad, which was the impetus for Hazen's development in the first few years of the twentieth century. The Hazen Store almost defies architectural description, although to say it is soundly grounded in the vernacular would be an understatement. The largest interior space is a rectangular, gable-roofed structure built ca. 1904, the year of Hazen's birth. This part of the building originally operated as a bar called Shorty's Place, and was located along the railroad tracks about 200 feet from its present location until 1944. Appended to the north end of the building is an addition that abuts the rear of the central portion in a shallow hipped roof, dropping off to a shed roof. This space is part of the living area and the shed roofed section is an enclosed porch that functions as the kitchen. This rear area reportedly was an old railroad building moved to the site between 1944 and 1948 from Wadsworth, Nevada, another defunct railroad town. A porch cover, presumably built in 1948, extends the full width of the rear of the building. Another shed-roofed addition is attached to the central section along the east wall, extending half of the length of the building. This space houses restrooms that, according to tax records, were added in 1951 to accommodate automobile travelers. Sitting atop the rest room is a small structure with a gable roof that strongly resembles a Southern Pacific signal house (Steam Age Equipment Company 1997:3). It has one small window along the east-facing elevation and is used as storage. The building's front fa9ade is faced with a three-tiered false front with a small centrally-placed wood-framed window. Extending more than the width of an automobile from the store's front, and supported by two brick-covered posts, is a wide canopy that shades the store's entrance and two gasoline pumps. The present pumps are modern, but tax records suggest that gasoline service was added to the store at some time before 1958. Above the canopy and extending perpendicular from the middle of the false front is a large neon sign that appears to be in original condition. It reads "HAZEN MARKET GROCERY," and tax records indicate that it was purchased and installed in 1949. The stretch of highway between Fernley and Fallon is fairly barren. This sign would have been visible for a long distance, and a welcome sight to weary travelers. The entire building is sheathed in stucco, which was added at the time of the move between 1944 and 1948. The rest room addition was stuccoed to match at the time of its construction in 1951. All roof planes are covered in corrugated metal sheets. A small gabled dormer is located in the central roof section on the west side, and a brick chimney projects from the east side of the roof, just below the peak of the gable. Fenestration is wood-framed double-hung, with the exception of two fixed-pane windows on the front elevation. Located slightly to the west behind the store, is a small rectangular former railroad bunkhouse building that was used as a rental. Long, narrow, and end-gabled, the building is accessed through a central wooden door. The exterior walls are stucco, the roof is composition shingle, and the few windows are double hung. A small porch cover supported by slender posts shades the front door. The other contributing outbuilding is a garage located behind the store. The garage consists of three attached sections, of differing heights and sizes, each with a flat corrugated metal roof, and board-and-batten walls. Both of these outbuildings were originally located along the railroad tracks and moved onto the site, along with the store, between 1944 and 1948. As a grouping, and individually, the buildings of the Hazen Store retain all seven aspects of integrity. Integrity of design, materials, and workmanship are reflected in the utilitarian nature of the buildings that were adapted from a former railroad use, and are relatively unchanged from the period of significance in the late 1940s. Likewise, integrity of location, setting, feeling, and association are reflected in the complex's orientation along the highway, the evocative neon sign, and the building's use as a stop for automobile travelers that continues to the present day. The Hazen Store is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for its association with the history of commerce and transportation along the stretch of the Reno Highway (U. S. Highway 50) between Fernley and Fallon, Nevada. The three contributing buildings date to Hazen's early days as a railroad center, but found new life after the town's subsequent demise. The grocery business that was housed in the Hazen Store was originally located in the Palace Hotel under the name Hazen Trading Company. In 1934, young Agnes Hart had her eyes set on the postmistress position and with that job came the grocery. For $1,500 Agnes acquired all of the merchandise and the title she longed for. Not long after, the Palace Hotel wanted to expand its restaurant and Agnes was forced to look for another location for her post office and store. The little building next door to the Palace that had housed Shorty's Bar in the railroad days was for sale and Agnes purchased it. Now re-named the Hazen Store, the post office and business operated on Nevada Street until 1944, when the highway was realigned. By this time, Agnes had married Tony Sever, a Southern Pacific agent, who was re-assigned to Fallen after the railroad services left Hazen (Pershing 1984). The highway construction project meant that even fewer people ventured into the tiny town of Hazen. Few resources remain along this stretch of the old Lincoln Highway, and in its present state of preservation, with its neon still shining, the Hazen Store stands as a monument to this period of Nevada's history of transportation and commerce.
-National Park Service, NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES, Mella Rothwell Harmon, August 2001
Being right next to the railroad means you need hotels and restaurants and such, and Hazen was no exception. They had several. There was also some ranching and farming in the area to feed hungry railroad men and, later, dam workers.
CITY OF HAZEN
Jud Allen, we are informed, will build a hotel or roadhouse at Hazen so people travelling can be accommodated with grub and lodged when necessary. The telephone connection will come in handy there.
-Wadsworth Semi-Weekly Dispatch, September 15, 1903
Hey, get your ducks in a row, Allen.
Anyone wishing a setting of eggs should apply to H. Judd Allen at Hazen, however, he can not vouch as to whether the eggs will hatch chickens or ducks.
-Wadsworth Semi-Weekly Dispatch, April 12, 1904
Well, let's get this out of the way. You've all seen the photo of poor ol' Red hanging from a telegraph pole in Hazen, probably the last lynching in Nevada, at least the last we know about. At any rate, Hazen was a pretty rough place back then, and its isolation probably encouraged a bit of lawless activity in the area. Finally, the citizens said, "Enough."
HAZEN MOB LYNCHES "RED" WOOD, NORTORIOUS DERBY THUG
HAZEN, Feb. 28 - Goaded to desperation by the outlawry of the criminals that infest this section a mob visited the Hazen jail at 2 o'clock this morning and breaking down the door took out "Red" Wood, a notorious Derby thugs and all around bad man, and hanged him to the nearest telephone pole. The mob worked quietly and it was not until the sun lighted up the country that the people of this place discovered the stiffened body swinging at the end of a rope in the heart of the city. Today the town goes quietly about its business as if nothing happened and the investigation of the Coroner, conducted this morning has thrown no light on the case. The officials of the county say there will probably be no further inquiry and it looks like the matter will be dropped. Who composed the mob remains a mystery. No one seems to know anything about the affair. Everyone is talking about the incident but no one ventures any opinion as to who did the work. Wood was caught here last night in the act of robbing two men at the depot. His remains were buried today on the desert a half mile from town, his body being the first to be interred in the Hazen graveyard.
-Reno Evening Gazette, February 28, 1905
Nothing puts a damper on things like having your entire town burn to the ground.
HAZEN IS NOW IN ASHES
Every Business House on the Front Street Wiped Out by Fire Sunday.
A fire which started at 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon in the rear of the building owned and formerly occupied by A. F. Branch as a mercantile store swept westward and destroyed every building along the front street and laid the railroad eating house in ashes. The bridge across the canal between the Nevada Inn and the depot was also burned and the depot badly scorched. There is not a business house left in the railroad town. Scott Kendall, night bartender at the Nevada Inn, came over to Fallon on a late train Sunday night. He said that he was in bed when the fire started and barely had time to put on his clothes, place a few things in a suit case, throw them out the window and jump out after them. While he was dressing two explosions occurred, one of which, he says, was from dynamite and giant powder and the other from gasoline which was stored in the Higman store, The force of the explosion tore the boards from the ceiling in his room and some of them fell at his feet. Heroic work was done in saving the depot from the flames. The total loss must be fully $100,000, with nominal insurance. Postmaster Higman told Postal Agent Bulmer, a few hours after the fire, that everything in the post office was gone, the mail and postage stamps, of which he had a large quantity, his books and even his lock keys. The newly constructed hotel, the Inn, located next to the origin of the Fire, the Denver Club, Hazen Lumber Company building (J. M. Higman's store and post office), Merchants' Hotel, Nevada Inn, Palace Hotel, Cash Store, Short's Saloon, Johnsten's Restaurant, Keller Hotel and Station Restaurant, besides the entire row of cottages in the rear of the business houses and other buildings fell prey to the flames. Several attempts at plundering were reported.
-Fallon Standard, August 25, 1908
That didn't stop some from trying to rebuild.
The New Palace Hotel.
Messrs. Coffin and Gruber of Hazen are having erected at Hazen one of the finest hotels in the State and they are expecting to have it completed by Christmas time. The house is built of brick and when finished will be heated with steam heat and every room will be supplied with hot and cold water. In all there will be about 30 rooms and a fine large dining room, a ladies' parlor and a gentlemens' smoking room. A barber shop will be in connection as well as a general store. Everything will be up-to-date in every respect and travelers through that town will have a convenient place to stop. The name of the new hotel will be the Palace Hotel instead of the old name, the Nevada Inn. This building be a handsome addition to the town of Hazen arid would be a credit to the city of Reno. We congratulate Messrs. Coffin & Gruber in erecting such a neat building and we wish them all the success possible.
-Fallon Standard, November 26, 1908
Hazen was on the Lincoln Highway
HAZEN
Miles From N.Y. - 3012
Miles from S.F. - 319
Pop. 100. Churchill County.
One motel, 1 garage. Route marked through town, signs at town limits. One railroad, 8 general business places, 1 express company, 1 telegraph company, 1 public school, electric lights, water works. Camp site.
At this point the Western Ore Purchasing Company operates a sampling plant. Smelting grades of ore from all the big camps of Nevada are brought here for assay. Visitors should stop and watch this interesting operation of the mining industry.
Official Lincoln Highway Guide, 1916
A few people apparently still live in Hazen- we did a drive-by photo-shoot but didn't have a chance to actually talk to anyone. I imagine some day we will, as it seems like an interesting place.