This is Middlegate Station, 47 miles east of Fallon on Highway 50. I stopped in here the other night and was not disappointed. The station is located on the historic Pony Express Trail and was named by James Simpson in his journal "Across the Great Basin in 1859." He named the cuts in the mountains "gates" to identify the route he took across the desert. His exploration served the stage lines and wagon trains that crossed the country. Simpson's journal is filled with tribulations and encounters during his 1859 journey. He writes of meeting a friendly naked Indian at the middle gate who was surrounded by several dead rats and lizards that had been killed for food. It was at this spot that the Overland Stage & Freight Company built a station to serve the mines south near Tonopah and east to Ely. The station served as a Pony Express stop in 1860-1861. After the demise of the Pony Express, the station continued in operation until the mines closed.
Today, Middlegate Station serves as a watering hole for personnel at nearby Fallon Naval Air Station, home to the Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), hence the fighter squadron patches, and the "Anytime Baby" F-14 Tomcat art you see on the ceiling. This place reminded me of the Happy Bottom Riding Club for those of you that are familiar.
If you're ever on the Loneliest Highway, I highly recommend stopping in for a beer, and if you're too tired to continue on, they have a bunkhouse with rooms for $25 a night.
