Middlegate was named in 1850 by James Simpson as he mapped the route for the Overland Stage Company. In his journal he writes that he thought the cuts in the mountains looked like ‘gates’ so he named each cut Westgate, Middlegate, and Eastgate to identify the route he took across the desert. It was a this spot at Middlegate that in 1859 the Overland Stage & Freight Company built a station to serve the gold and silver mines near Tonopah and east to Ely. When the Pony Express began service on April 3, 1860 Middlegate Station served as a changing station on the route for 18 months until October 24, 1861 when the completion of the Pacific Telegraph line ended the need for it’s existence. Middlegate continued to serve as a stage and freight station until the early 1900s to deliver personnel and much needed supplies to the gold and silver mines in Eastern Nevada until the mines closed. Automobiles soon came into service and the Lincoln Highway replaced the long and uncomfortable stage routes. The romantic drama surrounding the Pony Express and early history of the area has made Middlegate Station part of the legend of the American West.

Dedicated this day July 30 2011 (6016)

Snowshoe Thompson Chapter 1827

Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus