Willow Point, Nevada

Ghost town in Nevada, United States

41°15′21″N 117°36′35″W / 41.25583°N 117.60972°W / 41.25583; -117.60972^[1]CountryUnited StatesStateNevadaCountyHumboldtNamed forHumboldt National ForestElevation

^[1]

4,334 ft (1,321 m)

Willow Point is an extinct town in Humboldt County, in the U.S. state of Nevada.^[1] Willow Point is located in Paradise Valley, south of the town of Paradise Valley and about 20 miles northeast of Winnemucca.^[2]

History

In August 1865, a military camp was established at Willow Point on the banks of the Little Humboldt River by Major Michael O'Brien. O'Brien assumed command of troops on the Quinn River after Lt. Col. Charles McDermit was killed by Indians in a skirmish on August 7, 1865. The camp was occupied until October 1865, when the troops withdrew to Camp Dun Glen.^[3]

In the later part of the 1800s, Willow Point was a station on the Winnemucca-Paradise Valley route.^[4]

A post office was established at Willow Point in 1865, and remained in operation until 1910.^[5] By 1910, Willow Point also had a saloon, livery stable and hotel.^[4]

An 1890 book includes Willow Point in a list of towns and settlements in Humboldt County.^[6]

The community was named for a grove of willows near the original town site.^[7] Variant names were "Willow Point Station" and "Willowpoint".^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Willow Point (historical)
^ Carlson, Helen S. (1974-01-01). Nevada Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. University of Nevada Press. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-87417-094-8. Retrieved 2018-12-25.
^ Ruhlen, George (1964). "Early Nevada Forts" (PDF). Nevada Historical Society Quarterly. 7 (3–4): 58. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Paher, Stanley W. (1970). Nevada Ghost Towns & Mining Camps. Berkeley: Howell-North Books. p. 143.
^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Willow Point Post Office (historical)
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming. p. 264. hdl:2027/pst.000020058074. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
^ Federal Writers' Project (1941). Origin of Place Names: Nevada (PDF). W.P.A. p. 39.