Halleck, Nevada

Halleck, Nevada
Unincorporated community
Camp Halleck and landscape in 1871
Halleck Location within the state of Nevada
Coordinates: 40°57′3″N 115°27′10″W / 40.95083°N 115.45278°WCoordinates: 40°57′3″N 115°27′10″W / 40.95083°N 115.45278°W
Country	United States
State	Nevada
County	Elko
Elevation	5,230 ft (1,590 m)
Time zone	Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	89824
GNIS feature ID	845498
Nevada Historical Marker
Official name	Fort Halleck Site (1867-1886)
Reference no.	47

Halleck is an unincorporated community in central Elko County, northeastern Nevada, in the Western United States.

Geography

Halleck lies at the interchange of Interstate 80 and State Route 229 northeast of the city of Elko.^[1] Its elevation is 5,230 feet (1,590 m).^[2] The community is part of the Elko Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Although it is unincorporated, Halleck has a post office, with the ZIP code of 89824.^[3] 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 and the construction workers of the Central Pacific Railroad. It was named for Major General Henry Wager Halleck.^[4] 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

1. The Road Atlas '08. Chicago: Rand McNally, 2008, p. 64.
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Halleck, Nevada, Geographic Names Information System, 1980-12-12. Accessed 2008-02-27.
3. ZIP Code Lookup
4. Carlson, Helen S. (1974) Nevada Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary, pp 129-130, Reno, Nevada: University of Nevada Press, ISBN 0-87417-094-X