Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lovelock

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
B−History
History · Lovelock

Lovelock was first counted by the census in 1910, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Marzen House, the US Post Office-Lovelock Main and the Central Pacific Railroad Depot. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1910.

1910first census
3on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lovelock’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lovelock began

When was Lovelock founded?

1910

Lovelock first appears in the census in 1910. Another post office, Lovelocks (1875), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,104 in 19102020 census: 1,805116 years

How historic is Lovelock?

B−

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lovelock’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lovelock is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lovelock’s overall grade.
Founding era1910, from the first census: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194019.7% of homes (±8.7) · typical NV town 0.3% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register3 listings, 20.3 per 10,000 residents · typical NV town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 52%
NewerOlder

Few Nevada towns list much on the Register (a typical Nevada town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lovelock’s 20.3 sits above most of its state (83% of Nevada towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.7 points).

Founding year: the first census (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Lovelock’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1904 to 1914, drew every building in Lovelock.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lovelock’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lovelock’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewZan T-575 - Interior of the Western Gri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Lovelock, building by building, 1904–1914

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Lovelock fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Lovelock came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lovelock.

Read it all →

The area in which the township of Lovelock would be established first came to prominence as a midpoint on the Humboldt Trail to California. According to an 1849 description of what were then called the Big Meadows, "This marsh for three miles is certainly the liveliest place that one could witness in a lifetime. There is some two hundred and fifty wagons here all the time. Trains going out and others coming in and taking their places is the constant order of the day. Cattle and mules by the hundreds are surrounding us, in grass to their knees, all discoursing sweet music with the grinding of their jaws.”

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lovelock, 1875 to 1956

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Lovelocks post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Born hereCharles Hinton Russell is born here
  5. 1909Born hereAlan Bible is born here
  6. 1917Born hereLouise Aloys Smith is born here
  7. 1922Born hereClarence Clifton Young is born here
  8. 1922Post officeThe Lovelocks post office closes
  9. 1922Post officeThe Lovelock post office opens
  10. 1938BuiltUS Post Office-Lovelock Main is built
  11. 1950In the archiveZan T-575 - Interior of the Western Grill, Lovelock, Nevada back
  12. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lovelock, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s2 items
Zan T-575 - Interior of the Western Grill, Lovelock, Nevada backc. 1950Zan T-575 - Interior of the Western Grill, Lovelock, …PostcardZan T-575 - Interior of the Western Grill, Lovelock, Nevada frontc. 1950Zan T-575 - Interior of the Western Grill, Lovelock, …Postcard
1960s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
48US POST OFFICE - LOVELOCK MAIN, PERSHING COUNTY, NEVADA201348US POST OFFICE - LOVELOCK MAIN, PERSHING COUNTY, NE…Lovelock772010Lovelock77CowpokeCafeLovelock2010CowpokeCafeLovelockWlecome Lovelock (사랑의 열쇠)2009Wlecome Lovelock (사랑의 열쇠)Sign Board at Downtown2009Sign Board at DowntownLovers Lock History2009Lovers Lock HistoryLovelocks at Courthouse2009Lovelocks at CourthouseLock Your Love2009Lock Your LoveLovelock, Nevada-750px2003Lovelock, Nevada-750px
On the map

Lovelock on the map, 1956 to 1987

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lovelock. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lovelock on the 1956 USGS mapLovelock on the 1987 USGS map1956Lovelock sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lovelock.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Zan T-575 - Interior of the Western Grill, Lovelock, Nevada back
Retake this viewZan T-575 - Interior of the Western Grill, Lovelock, Nevada back, c. 1950

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lovelock’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Lovelock

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1981
Marzen House
Marzen HouseUS Post Office-Lovelock Main, built 1938Central Pacific Railroad Depot
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Ranch1
Moderne1
Starved Classical1
Late Victorian1
Stick1
Marzen HouseItalianate
US Post Office-Lovelock MainModerne · Built 1938
Central Pacific Railroad DepotLate Victorian

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Lovelock, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,236

Between 1,104 and 2,236 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lovelock’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Lovelock

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Charles Hinton RussellAmerican politician · b. 1903
Alan BibleAmerican politician · b. 1909
Clarence Clifton YoungAmerican politician · b. 1922
L
Louise Aloys SmithAmerican politician and community leader · b. 1917
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Lovelock’s post office has been open since 1922. Another post office, Lovelocks, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lovelocks
1875–1922
Lovelock
1922–today
18701950today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lovelock’s history

What year was Lovelock founded?

The Lovelock post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lovelock rank for history?

Lovelock is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Lovelock?

Three places: the Marzen House (listed 1981), the US Post Office-Lovelock Main (1990) and the Central Pacific Railroad Depot (2004).

How old are the homes in Lovelock?

20% of Lovelock’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.7 points), against a typical 0.3% for a Nevada town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.