Stillwater is a 19th-century
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
of
Churchill County, Nevada
Churchill County is a county in the western U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,516. Its county seat is Fallon. Named for Mexican–American War hero brevet Brigadier General Sylvester Churchill, the county wa ...
. Stillwater became the county seat of Churchill County in 1868, when the town was an important mail
stage stop. In 1903 the seat of government moved to
Fallon, Nevada
Fallon is a city in Churchill County, Nevada, Churchill County in the U.S. state of Nevada. The population was 9,327 at time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Fallon is the county seat of Churchill County and is located in the Lahont ...
.
In July 1862, a station of the
Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company
The Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company was a stagecoach line that operated in the American West in the early 1860s, but it is most well known as the parent company of the Pony Express. It was formed as a subsidiary of the ...
was established in Churchill County. Its name was derived from the
Stillwater Slough which was a deep sluggish waterway. Settlers began arriving in the fall of 1862 and the spring of 1863, and the town of Stillwater grew up around the station. It became the county seat in December 1868, at which time the population of Stillwater was about 150. The county seat and courthouse were moved to Fallon in 1902,
and the decline of Stillwater was hastened, although the population was listed as 420 as late as 1940. The
Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1949. Stillwater was a Pony Express Stop.
References
Gallery
File:Stillwater, Nevada 1910.jpg, Detail of 1910 map
File:Pony Express Map William Henry Jackson.jpg, Pony Express route map
File:Stillwater Nevada main st 1907.jpg, Stillwater main street 1907
External links
Stillwater at GhostTowns.com
Ghost towns in Churchill County, Nevada
Pony Express stations
Ghost towns in Nevada
{{ChurchillCountyNV-geo-stub