Sherman Station

This two-story, 4,700-square-foot log house is an unusual structure in Nevada, where log buildings tend to be small cabins. In 1997 the Elko Chamber of Commerce moved the house in one piece by flatbed truck to the grounds of the Northeastern Nevada Museum for use as its offices and as a visitor center. The building's original site, in Huntington Valley, about sixty miles south of Elko, was on a ranch home-steaded by Valentine Walther in 1876. Walther, a Bavarian immigrant, ran the ranch as a stage stop along the road between Elko and Hamilton in White Pine County. He built ten log buildings on the ranch, using round logs and saddle notches for all the structures except the main house and blacksmith's shop, which have square logs and dovetail notches. Of these, the creamery, blacksmith's shop, and schoolhouse were also moved to Elko to serve as part of the visitor center. Walther made the house of pine logs from Sherman Peak, part of the Ruby Mountain range, near the original site of the station. He cut them in 1902 and began construction the following year. With the help of two men, he hewed the logs by hand, completing the building in 1903.

Despite the harsh winters and hot summers, the building has weathered the climate well. Its dovetailed joints hold the massive timbers in place, and chinking of mud, plaster, cement, wood, and other materials keeps the elements at bay. Dormer windows break the eaves of the broad hipped roof at several places. A small porch on the east facade covers the main entrance. A bay window on the south elevation, probably ready-made, adds a note of refinement. The interior, inhabited until the 1970s, has a kitchen, living room, and dining room on the ground floor and one large room on the upper floor.