[218]       

Geiger Station (Magnolia House)

Reno & Washoe County
  39.37562, -119.71571

"#218 conquered. This is the only marker I'm singling out today and probably for the week. Weeks of being sick will do that to the soul. I'm sure it probably won't seem like it from the pictures, but I can see where this would've been an ideal setting for an old station. I can only imagine the anxiety, though, of having to leave the station and head up into the steep folds of the mountains! This is where a good night's rest and a warm breakfast would've done wonders for the soul. Nice marker! I just hope more people will take the time to find their way here." -- Journal Entry, December 2007

At the pavement's end on Toll Road -- South Reno
 * From SR 341, turn right at the stoplight and follow Toll Road to the pavement end *

Original Date Visited: 12/16/07

Signed: Original cut-out shield, a rarity in and around urban Nevada! Eastbound lane of Toll Road.

  • Old vintage signs like these are a treat, as most of them are almost extinct in and around urban Reno
  • Marker 218 on the far reaches of the Truckee Meadows
  • Why not travel up the old Geiger Grade?

Exact Description:
Seven-tenths of a mile east of this marker was Geiger's Station, the largest station on the Geiger grade toll Road, the main thoroughfare between the Comstock Lode and the ranches of the Truckee Meadows. Located at the site were a toll house, three blacksmith shops, three barns, several corrals and an inn, Magnolia House.

During the boom years of the Comstock Lode, the sixties and the seventies, the station was crowded with freight outfits, stagecoaches and weary teamsters. Passing travelers could stop off at the inn for a drink or a quick meal.

Following the extension of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad to Reno in August 1872, the toll road fell into disuse and a few years later became a public highway. Magnolia House continued operating until 1915. Social activity at the inn included dances which attracted residents from Virginia City, nearby valleys, and the Truckee Meadows.

Next Marker:

GLENBROOK

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