Leeland Station (site)

Five miles to the west was Lee, California that was booming during the year 1906. The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad established a small railroad station as an important shipping point for Lee and named the station Leeland. Regular train service through Leeland began on October 15, 1907. A week later a three-room station and a Wells Fargo office were completed. They had dirt floors and no plumbing or electricity. As Lee continued to grow so did Leeland. By 1911 twenty-five people were living at the station. The town reached its peak in 1912. After Lee folded Leeland began to fade. The post office closed in 1914 and the town slowly sank into oblivion although the railroad still used the site as a water stop. The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad tore up its tracks in the early 1940s leaving Leeland to the ghosts. Nothing remains.

www.ghosttowns.com/states/nv/leeland.html
www.ttrr.org/img_dbf/leela_01.html

Lee's Camp to West, Paiute Mesa, Nevada, to East

Lathrop Wells Nev., lies two or three mile to the East and is the terminus for California State Highway 127 which begins at Baker and more or less parallels the T&T. From there one has the option of going North to Beatty, South to Death Valley Junction, or East to Las Vegas. Paiute Mesa, of nuclear-waste-storage controversy fame, lies to the North East and was once accessible from Lathrop Wells. The remains of an Indian encampment could be found in the Mesa "high country." A natural spring used to serve both the Paiute and Big Horn. Pinon nuts were harvested by to locals until the Government took over and closed the area off to public access.

Leeland had a well and water tank like Rasor and was also a fun place to park. It is in a sandy area, which was easy on our bare feet. Shoes were only for school or winter. Two graves lie just to the West of the T&T road bed. The one I knew about was a suicide. His name died with my father who buried him. Neither has a marker, just shallow depressions observable during my last visit. To die in the desert, often meant to lie alone for eternity.

www.amargosa.net/About/photos.html

Leeland Station while still operation: www.urbaneagle.com/TT/TT-76.jpg