Eastgate Station, State Route 722 - the Lincoln Highway. Photo courtesy of Cindy Ainsworth
Reported by Cindy Ainsworth: The Lincoln/Victory Highways in Nevada --- An important development has taken place concerning the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). The Cultural Resources office of NDOT has completed what is known as the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) Multiple Property Documentation Forms (MPDF) for the Lincoln and Victory Highway across Nevada. These provide the historic context statements of the overall development of the Nevada segments of the Lincoln and Victory Highway.
A NDOT press release stated that “With the completion of this five-year project, the NDOT Cultural Resources team has set the standard for work conducted from the California state line to the Utah state line, not only for NDOT but for every federal agency and Cultural Resources contractor working in the state of Nevada, resulting in money savings and significant time savings moving forward.” This is a significant development also for the Nevada Chapter as it will make working with NDOT much easier when for instance we need to identify significant Lincoln Highway sites or routes when marking the highway with new signage or interpretive plaques.
More importantly, as the result of this documentation, the SHPO has concurred on two of NDOT’s national register nominations and the submitted determinations of eligibilities on many segments of these highways. The SHPO concurred that 1.) Carroll Summit Roadbed Segment nomination --- that the "17.5 mile segment of the Lincoln Highway that extends from Eastgate at the western terminus and an unnamed road 0.4 miles east of Campbell Creek Ranch at the eastern terminus should be nominated. The nomination contains three contributing resources: the road segment, the Carroll service station and a complex of buildings at Eastgate." 2.) Victory Highway Pequop Summit Roadbed nomination --- "for a 3.2 segment of the Victory Highway that extends from approximately 0.5 miles southwest of the maintenance station at Interstate 80 exit 376 to the top of Pequop Summit in the vicinity of Oasis.
As of this writing, NDOT is still working with the SHPO on the two nominations which will hopefully be submitted to the National Park Service’s officials for their review as possible National Register of Historic Places candidates.
If you would like read the MPDF’s here are the links:
MPDF_LincolnHwy Carson to Utah.pdf
MPDF_VictoryHwy.pdf
Join the Lincoln Highway Association and the Sparks Heritage Museum for a presentation by Kimberly Roberts of the University of Nevada, Reno’s Special Collections Department. See the announcement in Events.
