Lemmon, Antelope and Hungry
April , 2007
By John Evanoff
Several farmers came to the area in the early 1900’s
north of Reno and Sparks to raise hogs, goats, chicken and sheep
for the growing population of the Truckee Meadows. Although the
citizens of the Rail City (Sparks) and the little town next to the
Truckee River (Reno) were happy for the meat, cheese and eggs sold
by these small but energetic entrepreneurs, they had little to do
with them. Many generations later, we are left with pavement, mobile
homes, houses, apartments and businesses without any concern for
what was once in the northern valleys and how history has forgotten
these few but important pieces of property.
Sun Valley was owned by just a couple families
who did fairly well on their farms. Many times a week they would
come to market along commercial row, which was the main street back
then and sell their meats and produce to the restaurants and markets.
The trail into the Sun Valley area came up from Wedekind Road, an
old flume path before it became a dirt road and then paved road
years later. Wedekind was actually the name of a mining czar in
the region who owned most of a sizable mining venture on the west
side of Red Peak (the hill above Truckee Meadows Community College)
and extending south to what is now North McCarran Blvd. There were
several small one lane log bridges that crossed the flume for awhile.
The flume eventually became a large irrigation ditch to feed farms
and ranches in the north Sparks and Spanish Springs areas. A couple
small narrow gauge railroad lines traversed this area as well, connecting
with the Northern Pacific tracks (now the Western Pacific) that
meandered through the northern valleys to the main Central Pacific
roundhouse at the end of Valley Road. You have to imagine no pavement
anywhere and very few buildings in the area except for the roundhouse
and some packing houses nearby.
This was the way things stayed for years until
Reno got a spurt from the building of military installations during
World War II in North Reno around Valley Road and now McCarran,
Stead AFB and Hurlong Army Munitions Depot 45 miles north of Reno.
Lemmon Valley (once the town of Peavine) was the housing overflow
of maintenance workers at Stead AFB. Traffic increased and pavement
was laid along Military Road to old highway 395 (North Virginia
Street).
The pig, goat, sheep and chicken farmers of the
north valleys were doing really well, but then the war ended and
the men and the families of the armed forces housed in the region
remained and started to look for homes and civilian jobs to start
a new life in the Truckee Meadows. Within ten years, from 1946 to
1956, the City of Reno doubled in size and housing development outpaced
almost all industries. Harold’s Club, Harrah’s, the
Mapes Hotel, the Palace Club, the Silver Club, the Nevada Club,
the New China Club, the CalNeva and the Nugget in Sparks all sprang
up at once and the town became an instant hit with celebrities and
(six week) divorces.
When I was growing up, my father and I would regularly
go to Sun Valley to hunt Sage Hen, Chucker, Quail and Cottontail.
The creek ran most of the year through what is now Wildcreek Golf
Course and Red Peak to the west of the creek was by far our first
choice for a quick bag of chucker or sage grouse followed by a
bag of quail and cottontail near the marshy outcrop below. The
creek,
dry in the summer, was fed by artesian wells dotting the eastern
side of Red Peak. Two small farms lay at the bottom of the small
springs spaced about a mile apart and they were the only presence
of civilization until the land was sold to speculators. Before
long,
Sun Valley became extremely busy with the placement of a new type
of house called the mobile home. These trailers were much more
than
for just travel and were built to move into place over blocks and
a quick setup of water, electricity and septic tanks. Washoe County
allowed the sales of partials of acres and a major land boom began
to take shape. The more well to do citizens of the region bought
five, ten and twenty acre plots for ridiculously low prices and
split them up into quarter and third acre parcels to either rent
or sell to mobile home owners. Within ten years, Sun Valley was
the largest congregation of mobile homes in the country.
Before long, speculators were looking even further
north into Golden Valley, lemmon Valley, Panther Valley, Hungry
Valley and Antelope Valley, but Washoe County decided to make the
property rules more stringent because of the way the homes were
built and how the septic systems played a part in the ground water
and eventually the Truckee River water management system. Sun Valley
still remains today as one of the largest mobile home areas in the
country, but stick homes have begun to rise around the hills and
north into Spanish Springs. Panther Valley has become more commercialized
because of it’s proximity to the railroad spur and lemmon
Valley has become more rural in nature. Hungry and Antelope Valley
have been spared the land grab for now mostly because of the scarcity
of water. If water sources are found and appropriated in the next
couple years, those two valleys along with Warm Springs and Spanish
Springs will become rural towns.
For now, take a ride on the old Clear Acre Road
(Sun Valley Blvd) or El Rancho Drive from Wedekind Road north
into
Sun Valley. If you drive up Dandini Blvd. towards Truckee Meadows
Community College, you will see some lava outcroppings on both
sides
of the hill. Go back in time with me and try to visualize a dozen
or more sage grouse and more chucker than you can count at each
spot with not another living being for miles around. Then, take
Sun Valley Blvd., north to Seventh Avenue and take a left to visit
Golden Valley, the top half of Panther Valley, lemmon Valley, Hungry
Valley and eventually Antelope Valley. Fifty-five years ago, the
total population of this area was around one hundred and fifty,
with most of them residing in lemmon Valley.
Next month, we venture southeast across the state
to an old spring getaway of mine which still remains a wondrous
place to behold. The name brings make memories of one of my first
readings from the works of Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey,
Troy. Troy Peak was John Muir’s favorite Nevada hike. The
writer, naturalist and conservationist more than once exclaimed
of its outstanding views and magnificent geology in his writings.
I can tell you from my many hikes in the Grant and Quinn Canyon
Wilderness, he was correct in his adoration and you will too if
you take the time to take the hike.
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