For decades, the tiny enclave of Middlegate, located about halfway between Fallon and Austin on U.S. 50, was little more than a place to stop if you forgot to gas-up before hitting the Loneliest Road in America.
Back then, the only business in Middlegate, the Middlegate Station, offered a gas pump, a pay telephone, a small motel, a bar, and a restaurant. The closest attraction was the famous Shoe Tree, an old cottonwood in which hundreds of pairs of shoes, as well as plastic pink flamingos and other objects, had been tossed.
Fortunately, not much has changed over the years.
The Middlegate Station and a new Shoe Tree are still there, but what has changed is that the restaurant has become nationally-known for something called the Middlegate Station Monster Burger.
This beast of beef—which weighs in at a whopping three pounds—includes a 1 1/3-pound angus beef burger on a sourdough mini boule that is topped with lettuce, pickles, red onion, cheese, onion rings, olives, and a pepper, plus fries.
Anyone who can eat the burger and fries in one sitting can receive either a free t-shirt or a baby monster “onesie” for your baby.
The challenge of tackling the Monster has made national foodie websites and been featured in media throughout the country.
The backstory on Middlegate is equally interesting. The area was first named in 1850 by surveyor James Simpson, who was hired by the U.S. government to layout a western route. Simpson saw the cuts in the nearby mountains as “gates,” and named them Eastgate, Middlegate, and Westgate.
In 1859, the Overland Stage Company began establishing stations across the middle of Nevada to service its stage and freight line, and established one at Middlegate. Later, Middlegate became one of the changing stations (for changing out horses) for the Pony Express during its heyday from 1860-61.
According to the Middlegate Station website, in 1942, a woman named Ida Ferguson bought Middlegate Station from the Bureau of Land Management at an auction and began restoring the old wooden building still standing at the site. In 1952, she opened a bar and café, which served travelers on the historic Lincoln Highway/U.S. 50 drive.
With construction of the interstate highway system in the early 1960s, especially Interstate 80, traffic on U.S. 50 dried up. Ferguson sold Middlegate and retired.
During the next 20 years, until 1984, Middlegate passed through a succession of owners, none of whom updated or tried to do much with the property. But in 1984, the Stevenson family purchased Middlegate and began making improvements, although they admit it remains a work in progress.
In recent years, of course, all the attention from the Monster Burger has helped raise awareness about Middlegate’s existence. Today, it’s not uncommon to walk into the station and find visitors from all over the world, drawn to the modest structure by its legendary hamburger.
Features on Middlegate have appeared on the well-known Atlas Obscura website (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/middlegate-station-nevada) as well as on Only In Your State (https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nevada/epic-burgers-town-nv/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=newsletter) and in Nevada Magazine (https://nevadamagazine.com/taking-on-the-middlegate-monster-burger/).
For more information, go to the Middlegate Station website, https://middlegatestation.webs.com/.
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