Name: Desert Station: The First Building in What is Now Twin Falls
Start: 2025-10-14T18:30:00-06:00
Location: Herrett Center for Arts & Science

Desert Station: The First Building in What is Now Twin Falls

Before the age of trains, planes, and cars - stagecoaches and freight wagons carried people and goods across the rugged West. In this talk, we’ll explore the history of Desert Station, a stage stop built in 1864 when Ben Holladay—the famed “Stagecoach King”—secured a contract to carry mail from Salt Lake to Boise. We’ll learn how Desert Station functioned as a vital “swing station” where weary horses were exchanged for fresh teams. Perched along the edge of Rock Creek Canyon, the stone station even relied on a horse-powered hoist to draw water up from the canyon floor, we’ll examine how the rise of the railroad—first the Transcontinental line in 1869 and later the Oregon Short Line in 1884—reshaped travel and led to the decline of stage stations like Desert Station, and we’ll learn about the progress being made in the Desert Station Historical Site creation.
This Herrett Forum Lecture will be presented by: Paul Smith and Brent Reinke