Category: Railroad

Hazen is an unincorporated community in Churchill County, Nevada, often described as a semi-ghost town. It sits on the high desert plain at an elevation of approximately 4,006 feet (1,221 m), about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Fernley and 16 miles (26 km) northwest of Fallon. The site lies along the historic Southern Pacific Railroad (now part of the Union Pacific system) and U.S. Route 50 Alternate—the former alignment of the Lincoln Highway, U.S. Highway 40, and early U.S. 50.

Geographically, Hazen occupies a strategic transportation corridor in the arid Great Basin, positioned between the Truckee River and Carson Sink regions. Its location made it an ideal junction for rail and highway traffic in the early 20th century, though modern interstates later bypassed it. Today, scattered buildings, railroad remnants, and a few ranches remain, with the area still traversed by active freight trains.

Early History/Founding

The immediate area had limited pre-1903 activity. In the late 1870s, J.M. Sturdevant operated a small station or roadhouse along the overland route from Wadsworth eastward, serving stage and wagon traffic. However, no formal town existed until the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) realigned its transcontinental main line in 1902–1903. The railroad shifted eastward from the old Wadsworth route (bypassing the steep Hot Springs Grade), creating a new siding and construction camp at the site.

Hazen was officially established in 1903 and named for Union Army General William Babcock Hazen (1830–1887), a Civil War veteran who served under General William Tecumseh Sherman during the “March to the Sea” and fought in major battles such as Shiloh, Corinth, Murfreesboro, and Chickamauga. General Hazen had no known connection to Nevada and died long before the town’s founding; the name was simply “generously donated” as a railroad honor. A U.S. post office opened on April 25, 1904, formalizing the settlement.

Some secondary sources note possible scattered settlement as early as 1869, but Hazen does not appear on maps until the 1903 railroad development. The town quickly grew from a tent city into a modest rail stop with hotels, saloons, restaurants, and worker housing.

Economic Activities

Hazen’s economy revolved around two major early-20th-century infrastructure projects: the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Newlands Irrigation Project (Nevada’s first major federal reclamation effort, authorized under the 1902 Reclamation Act and championed by U.S. Senator Francis G. Newlands).

• Railroad Hub: Hazen became a key division point and junction. In 1905, the Nevada & California Railroad (an SP subsidiary) completed a standard-gauge line from Hazen southward, linking the transcontinental main line to the narrow-gauge Carson & Colorado Railroad and tapping the booming mining districts of Tonopah and Goldfield. A branch line to Fallon was built in 1906–1907. By 1906, the SP had constructed a large roundhouse and fine depot at Hazen. These facilities supported passenger and freight traffic, including ore shipments from southern Nevada mines. Hotels and eating houses catered to rail crews and travelers.
• Newlands Project Construction Camp: In 1904, the U.S. Reclamation Service (USRS, now Bureau of Reclamation) moved its headquarters and established a commissary in Hazen to support construction of Derby Dam, the Truckee Canal, and (later) Lahontan Dam. Hundreds of laborers lived in tents and rudimentary housing, driving demand for saloons, brothels, stores, and services. The project aimed to irrigate the arid Carson-Truckee basin for agriculture, transforming desert land into farmland—a hallmark of Progressive Era federal reclamation.
• Supporting Industries: Local ranching and farming supplied food to rail and construction crews. By the 1910s, the Western Ore Purchasing Company operated a sampling and assay plant in Hazen, processing ore samples from Nevada’s mining camps before smelting. A small school, churches, and businesses (including the original Hazen Store, ca. 1904) served the population, which peaked around several hundred during boom years.

Hazen earned a reputation as one of Nevada’s toughest towns. With no resident sheriff, crime (robberies, assaults, and vice) was common in the construction camps. On February 27–28, 1905, a mob of about 30 men broke into the small wooden jail (built in 1904 near Constable Judd Allen’s hotel) and lynched ex-convict William “Red” Wood (also called “Nevada Red”), a morphine addict and suspected murderer who had been arrested for robbing the depot. He was hanged from a telegraph pole roughly 30 feet away—the last recorded lynching in Nevada history. No arrests followed.

Decline/Abandonment

Hazen’s peak proved short-lived. A devastating fire on August 23, 1908, started in the rear of a mercantile store and destroyed nearly the entire business district (including the post office, multiple hotels, saloons, restaurants, and stores), with losses estimated at $100,000. Explosions of stored dynamite and gasoline complicated firefighting, though the depot was saved.

The USRS relocated its offices to Fallon in 1908 as work shifted to Lahontan Dam (completed 1915), ending the construction boom. Many families stayed temporarily due to Fallon’s housing shortage, but economic activity slowed. A 1908 rebuild (e.g., the brick Palace Hotel) provided temporary relief, and the Lincoln Highway (1913) brought some auto traffic through town.

Long-term decline accelerated with transportation changes:

• 1944 highway realignment bypassed the original townsite, forcing businesses (including the Hazen Store and post office) to relocate south to the new alignment.
• Completion of Interstate 80 in the 1960s rerouted most cross-state traffic onto a four-lane freeway, leaving Hazen on the quieter Alternate U.S. 50.
• Railroad traffic diminished as mining booms faded and highways competed; the Tonopah line was truncated, and the Fallon branch saw only sporadic use.

The post office operated until June 25, 1979 (with a brief temporary closure in 1977) and never reopened. By the late 20th century, Hazen had shrunk to a handful of residents, mostly ranchers, with many historic structures abandoned or demolished.

Legacy/Current Status

Hazen survives as a quiet, sparsely populated community that preserves echoes of Nevada’s railroad and reclamation eras. It is not fully abandoned but qualifies as a semi-ghost town, with a small number of residents and active railroad use. The Hawthorne Army Depot remains connected to the national rail network via a 120-mile spur originating at Hazen.

Notable surviving features include:

• The Hazen Store (ca. 1904, later relocated and stuccoed), listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural and transportation significance.
• Foundations of the roundhouse, depot, and substation.
• A small cemetery (with at least one recorded burial from 1906).
• Remnants of worker housing and the former Recreation Inn.

A Nevada State Historic Marker (No. 178) commemorates the town’s founding, railroad role, Newlands Project ties, and the 1905 lynching. In recent decades, limited geothermal exploration has occurred nearby, but the area retains its remote, historic character. Hazen stands as a testament to the boom-and-bust cycles driven by federal infrastructure projects and rail expansion in early 20th-century Nevada.

Town Summary

Hazen Historic Events

The Hanging of William “Nevada Red” Wood Hazen, a small railroad and construction-camp settlement in Churchill County, Nevada, established in 1903 along the Southern Pacific Railroad, became a hub for workers on…

References

• Reno Gazette Journal
• Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps