View from the Past

50 Years Ago

Services of a Doctor Sought by the People of Fernley: A doctor is wanted in Fernley. At a recent meeting of the Fernley Area Development Council, it was announced that services of a doctor are being sought for the area, reports Clair Christensen, cooperative extension resource development specialist at University of Nevada. Christensen said that a survey requested by the Council and conducted through the Sears, Roebuck Foundation, indicated that the Fernley area can support a doctor and that one can be obtained. According to the survey, residents of the area last year spent $37,125 for doctors office calls, $22,840 for medicine and $7,800 for travel to a doctor. “The American Medical Association,” said Christensen, “has been successful in placing doctors in other rural communities and feels confident it can be done in Fernley.”

— The Fallon Eagle Standard, Tuesday, November 5, 1968

Man Tampering With Elec. Meter: Johnny Jones, 25 was fined $50 after he pleaded guilty to, “tampering with seals on the city electric meter,” at his address, Fallon Police Department records show. However, the fine was suspended, and he was ordered to pay the city electric deposit, according to police records. The complaint against Jones comes from the City Clerks’ Office.

— The Fallon Eagle Standard, Tuesday, November 5, 1968

75 Years Ago

McCarran Talks to Rotary Club: Senator Pat McCarran, in Fallon to conduct a hearing of a bill he has up in Congress for the relief of the local irrigation district, was the interesting speaker at the Tuesday luncheon of the Fallon Rotary club. Outlining for the club members some of the features of the bill and of the project history leading up to the necessity for its introduction. Meetings of the club are being held at the Fallon Coffee Shop.

— The Fallon Eagle, Saturday November 6, 1943

100 Years Ago

Ben Sheckler writes from somewhere in France: The following letter has just been received by the Standard from Ben Sheckler, who formerly attended to the soles of this community, but could not resist the call of patriotism and enlisted, although he was then beyond the draft age. Editor Standard: I received the Standard of August 21st and was sure glad to get news of Fallon and vicinity. I have done a lot of traveling since leaving there, and since my arrival in France have seen some beautiful country, but the Truckee – Carson Project still looks good to me. Most of the farms here are divided into very small tracts and the farmers, as a rule, live in villages and go back and forth to their work. Oxen hitched to carts are very extensively used and they sure haul some loads. Horses are very scarce and burros are also used a lot. Most of the people wear shoes with wooded soles and leather uppers tacked to same, a very simple and economical process of making shoes, although they don’t size up to me as being very comfortable. This is in the rural district, of course, where people are very poor. Give my regards to the people of Fallon and vicinity. Yours very truly. B.A. Sheckler Battery E, 67th Artillery, C.A.C., American Expeditionary Forces.

— The Churchill County Standard, Wednesday, November 6 1918

View from the past ... Stories from the Churchill County Museum and Archives researched and compiled by Brianna Silver, Churchill County Museum Assistant.