Brown Ranch

Elko County

AKA: Brown's

An 1872 survey map lists this place as "Brown's". I have read on another website that a man named Augustine Brown owned this place. I was not able to find any information regarding Augustine Brown. Like so many other obscure Nevada sites, I had to go to the newspaper archives. I was able to find information for a man named Walter Brown (Browne) that dated back to the Huntington Valley in the 1880's. For example, on May 31, 1888, the Elko Independent listed "Walter Browne" of Huntington as an arrival at the Depot Hotel. On January 3, 1903, the Eureka Sentinel published an article that read in its entirety: "Seraphine Lani has purchased the Brown Ranch in Huntington Valley, Elko County. This property is situated about six miles north of the Sadler Ranch". Drawing a Path Line on Google Earth shows that the Brown Ranch is located right at 6 1/2 miles north of the Sadler Ranch. On May 3, 1903, the Eureka Sentinel published an article that read in its entirety: "Lani & Browne of Huntington Valley, Elko County, have dissolved partnership, Seraphine Lani buying Walter Browne's interest in the ranch." This is all that I was able to find.

Post Office: If my information is correct, the old site that was considered "Huntington" is located right at the Brown Ranch. The Huntington Post Office operated from March 17, 1873 to July 15, 1904 and December 7, 1923 to January 31, 1931. We know that Brown owned the ranch from at least 1872 to 1903. This post office would have opened just after that in 1873. It closed in 1904, which is just after Brown sold his interests in the ranch in 1903.

Last Trip/ Road Conditions: July 2022. We've driven past this site to cut firewood more times than I can count. The road is dirt, but it is wide and maintained. This is the main thoroughfare from Elko to the Bald Mountain Mine. Coach buses shuttle employees out to the mine all day. That doesn't mean that a storm can't cause issues on this road, so travel accordingly.

Sources: U.S. Surveyor General's Office- 1872 Survey Map (Surveyors: C.C. Tracy & A.J. Hatch); Elko Independent (Newspaper); White Pine News (Newspaper); Eureka Sentinel (Newspaper); Nevada Post Offices- An Illustrated History (By: James Gamett & Stanley W. Paher).