Halleck is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in central

Elko County Elko County is a county in the northeastern corner of Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,702. Its county seat is Elko. The county was established on March 5, 1869, from Lander County. Elko County is the fourth ...

, northeastern

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

Geography

Halleck lies at the interchange of

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

and State Route 229 northeast of the city of Elko. Its elevation is . The community is part of the Elko Micropolitan Statistical Area. Halleck has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

with the ZIP code 89824. The post office was established April 24, 1873.

History

The community's name originates from Camp Halleck, established July 26, 1867 (1867-1879) by the U. S. Army, to protect the

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

and the construction workers of the

Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by Pacific Railroad Acts, U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in N ...

. It was named for Major General

Henry Wager Halleck Henry Wager Halleck (January 16, 1815 – January 9, 1872) was a senior United States Army officer, scholar, and lawyer. A noted expert in military studies, he was known by a nickname that became derogatory: "Old Brains". He was an important par ...

. It then became Fort Halleck (1879-1886). Halleck came into being in 1869 when the Central Pacific Railroad was completed through the future townsite that immediately became the shipping point for supplies destined for Fort Halleck. During 1869, the town had erected two hotels and one saloon. The saloon catered to soldiers stationed at Fort Halleck. A store and a school were opened in 1874. The school remained open until the 1950s. By 1875, the population had grown to fifty and by 1900 had risen to 126. At the time Halleck had twenty-six buildings and numerous businesses flourished. However, with the abandonment of Fort Halleck in 1886, the town had to rely on ranching and ranchers to survive. But the town was slowly dying as small ranches were bought by larger properties and combined into corporate operations. The Halleck post office continues to operate from one of the two remaining buildings in town as it serves the many local ranches.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Elko County, Nevada Unincorporated communities in Nevada Populated places established in 1873 Elko, Nevada micropolitan area