Visiting Fallon
Vintage Postcard, Fallon, Nev.
Where the Hell is Fallon?
It’s not that far from where you are. The Oats Park Art Center is located at 151 East Park Street in Fallon, the Oasis of Nevada.
Fallon is 60 miles east of Reno, Nevada, and is easily accessible from I-80 and Highway 50, the Loneliest Road in America. The Art Center is located on the east side of Oats Park, four blocks east of the junction of Highways 50 and 95. Detailed directions can be found by visiting Google Maps.
Fallon can trace its roots back to the California Gold Rush and the subsequent western migration. Settlers making their way West were thankful to have survived the journey across the infamous “40-Mile Desert,” the most treacherous stretch along the Emigrant Trail.
These settlers rested along the banks of the Carson River at a place called Ragtown just down the road from present day Fallon. Ragtown became a trading outpost. The Pony Express skirted the area in the 1860s followed closely by the Overland Telegraph.
At the turn of the century, the Newlands Project, the first land reclamation project in the United States, diverted waters from the Truckee and Carson Rivers to reclaim the land from the desert. Fallon grew amidst these new farms and ranches and was incorporated in 1908.
From 1915 until after World War II, Fallon hosted the Nevada State Fair. The Hearts o’ Gold cantaloupe was produced in abundance from 1920 through 1930 and gained a national reputation for its unmatched flavor and quality. In 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, an airfield was built by the Army Air Corp.
Fallon has been known as the “Oasis of Nevada” since 1948, with farming and ranching industries being a vital part of the area’s economy and personality. Along with being the county seat, the Naval Air Station Fallon is home to the famous Navy Fighter Weapons School, Topgun. To this day Fallon and its surrounding countryside offer lush agricultural and cultural havens in the rural Nevada desert.
Additional Information About Fallon
• Fallon Convention and Tourism Authority
• Churchill County Museum and Archives
• Churchill County Library