In June, downtown Fallon was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Located in northern Nevada’s Churchill County, Fallon was established in 1901. Its downtown quickly became the county hub for businesses, government and the Southern Pacific Railroad.
These days, Fallon is the seat of Churchill County and an agricultural community. It’s also home to Fallon Naval Air Station, where the US Navy has its TOP GUN flight school.
But to get on the national register of historic places is not as easy as filling out an application. The bar is pretty high to make this federal designation.
“We just have a lot of historic buildings and a beautiful downtown area and I think being added to the national registry is just going to further the work that we’ve already started doing in Fallon,” City Councilwoman Kelly Frost told KNPR's State of Nevada.
Frost credits the Fallon City Council for starting the effort and Jim Bertolini with the State Historic Preservation Society for doing all the research and putting together the town's application.
She said, unlike other towns, Fallon hasn't torn down its old buildings but instead has preserved them.
“There are just so many buildings downtown that just kind of give it a unique feel in our community," she said, "I think we take pride in that and try and take care of our downtown area to make it a draw for tourists as well as for people coming to do businesses and so forth.”
One of those business owners is Kathy Openshaw. She owns Openshaw Saddlery with her husband.
Her shop is in a building that once housed a drugstore.
She said so far tourists haven't told her they came to the town because of the designation but it is getting some recognition.
“Just on social media, it's amazing the amount of people who tagged me in things because there was a Facebook page on Nevada Expeditions that they did a little thing on it and put pictures and people were tagging me because there was an old shot of my building in there,” she said.
Besides the recognition, Frost said there are potential grants and tax incentives for business that want to renovate.
Openshaw said the Churchill Economic Development Authority is working on its strategic plan right now to help businesses find the grant or tax credit that works for them.
There were some concerns at the beginning of the application process, Frost said.
“I think probably the biggest concern was what this would do in regards to property rights of folks that have businesses downtown and we were assured that it doesn’t do anything to the property rights.”
With fears allayed and the designation in place, the town can now add special historic register plaques in the main street district.
Kelly Frost, member, Fallon City Council; Kathy Openshaw, owner, Openshaw Saddlery