A little more than 30 miles south of Ely in the back country of White Pine County lies a piece of American transportation history. In the early days of the automobile, two major highways were planned, mapped, and constructed through Ely. Most everyone is familiar with the Lincoln Highway which entered Ely from the north before heading west towards Eureka and points beyond. The other highway, which is not as well known to the residents of White Pine County was the Midland Trail, of which this bridge was a part
Established in 1913 (the same year as the Lincoln Highway) and originally following the Lincoln Highway out of Salt Lake City to Ely before turning south on Murry Street then roughly following present day US Highway 6 into California. In 1922, an alternate route was approved from Santaquin, Utah to Ely following the path of future US-6. It’s not completely clear where much of the original marked path of the Midland Trail is today, but traces can be found if one knows where to look and what to look for, such as this example roughly one and a quarter miles due west of modern day US-6. The ONLY information I have on this photo is it’s location and that it’s a Midland Trail photo, as indicated by what I assume is a catalog number in the lower right corner of the original photo. With help from a Facebook friend who has a fair amount of information on the Midland Trail, and the use of Google Earth, I finally located the original location after a 2+ year search. I believe the original photo was taken between 1913 and 1920, but that is only a guess. My photo was taken April 15, 2020.
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