Middlegate is an unincorporated

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

along "The Loneliest Road In America,"

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

, in Churchill County,

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The community consists of a commercial rest stop with food, fuel and lodging accommodations, and some

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

es and other private properties in the nearby area. The last recorded population for the hamlet itself was 17 permanent residents.

Middlegate Station

Middlegate Station is a rest stop/commercial area with a

gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

and

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries ...

and

RV park A recreational vehicle park (RV park) or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in allotted spaces known as "sites" or "campsites". They are also referred to as campgrounds, though a true ...

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

stayed at the Middlegate Station motel for seven days and wrote a portion of ''Desperation''. Middlegate Station was the location for ''Black Road'', Gregory Hutton's award-winning 2002 short film starring William Nilon.

Transportation

Middlegate is served by intersecting

(Austin Highway/"The Loneliest Road In America") and

Nevada State Route 361 State Route 361 (SR 361), Gabbs Valley Road, is a state highway in Mineral, Nye, and Churchill counties in Nevada, United States. The highway serves the town of Gabbs following Gabbs Valley Road through the extreme northwestern tip of Nye County ...

(Gabbs Valley Road) along with multiple unpaved roads giving access to the surrounding ranches. A former portion of the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

intersects with Gabbs Valley Road at Middlegate Station. It was also a stop on the

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...

Shoe Tree

Immediately to the east of Middlegate on the northern side of Route 50 is a notable tree, known locally as the " Shoe Tree," with several dozen pairs of shoes hanging from its branches. The original Shoe Tree was cut down by vandals in 2011. Since that time, a nearby tree has been decorated with shoes.

References

External links

Unincorporated communities in Churchill County, Nevada Unincorporated communities in Nevada {{ChurchillCountyNV-geo-stub