Dayton station finally is county property

The Dayton train station will finally belong to Lyon County - at least until the county turns it over to the Historical Society of Dayton Valley.

The Lyon County Commission has approved the purchase of the original Carson and Colorado Depot at the corner of Highway 50 and Main Street from developer Jim Bawden. He bought it in 2003 to preserve the historic building so the historical society and Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce could turn it into a park-like visitors center and museum.

Bawden bought the building from William Boyd Mitchell, trustee of the Mitchell family estate, for $450,000. Mitchell had inherited it from Helen Barton when she died in the mid-1990s. Barton purchased it in 1955.

The commission approved purchasing the depot for $550,000.

The money will come from a federal Transportation Equity grant administered through the Nevada Department of Transportation. NDOT had already approved the grant.

Lyon County Commissioner Bob Milz said the county will pay for the property and be reimbursed by the grant.

The county plans to transfer control of the property to the historical society, and a grant will be pursued to pay for restoration of the structure to as close to its original condition as possible.

The depot building, which reportedly is more than 140 years old, had been moved to its current 1.1-acre site (5585 Highway 50 E.) several years ago from a location across the highway. It had been used as a residence until becoming vacant in recent years.

The station was a stop on the Carson & Colorado Railroad, where a narrow- gauge track ran from Mound House through Dayton to Keeler, Calif. It is one of two remaining C&C Railroad stations.

"This has been ongoing for years, and we have come full circle," Milz said.

He said the property had been appraised at $775,000, and that Bawden would donate the difference to the construction of the visitors center as a grant match.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.