Last reviewed 10 October 2026 · A two-minute read · 1860–now
Silver Springs, Nevada, sits where US 50 meets US 95A in Lyon County, a crossroads shaped not by nature but by a 1949 real estate venture. Los Angeles salesmen Merle Stanley Peek and Ben Klassen bought 1,800 acres, sold lots by newspaper advertisement, and saw the town officially recognised in 1954.
The short answer
Silver Springs, Nevada, is a crossroads town at the junction of US 50 and US 95A in Lyon County, founded from a 1949 land deal by Los Angeles salesmen Merle Stanley Peek and Ben Klassen, who bought 1,800 acres and sold lots by newspaper advertisement before the town's official recognition in 1954.
2014 and 2025
A land deal grew into a town with hard years
Half a mile from here, Silver Springs sits where two highways meet, a town built from a land deal rather than a settlement that grew on its own. Two salesmen from Los Angeles, Merle Stanley Peek and Ben Klassen, bought 1,800 acres in October 1949 and started selling lots through newspaper ads back home. Klassen came to dislike his partner enough to cash out in 1952, taking $150,000 and leaving Peek to run what they'd built.
The town has had its hard years since. In October 2014, a fight near the gas station at Nevada Avenue and Highway 95A ended with Robert Buchanan III shot dead. Santiago Fernandez was arrested days later and charged with his murder.
More recently, in February 2025, a 38-year-old mother named Haylie Baggett barricaded herself in a bedroom with her three-year-old child during a mental health crisis. When deputies forced their way in, she shot the child, then herself. Neither survived.
1952 to now
A crossroads town took shape around two highways
After Klassen left, Phillip Hess carried the Silver Springs Land Company forward, still selling desert lots to buyers back in Los Angeles. The pitch worked. By the 2020, census, 5,629 people called Silver Springs home, most of them spread across rural lots rather than packed into a downtown.
The town grew up around the crossing of US 50 and US 95A, the same intersection the original sales ads promised buyers. US 50 runs west to Carson City and east to Fallon. US 95A runs north to Interstate 80 and south toward Yerington, the county seat.
The land itself shaped what the town became. The Carson River marks its southern and eastern edge, backed up behind a dam to form Lahontan Reservoir. Lahontan State Recreation Area sits on those shores, and Fort Churchill State Historic Park lies just outside town.
Today Silver Springs remains what its founders built it to be: a crossroads town, rural and spread out, with more than half its housing built since the original land rush began. Census figures from 2020 show most households are married couples or single residents, and the median age sits near 49, a town of long-time locals as much as newcomers.
You're standing where US 50 and US 95A still cross, the same intersection that gave Silver Springs its reason to exist.
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On May 6, 1860, Paiute people attacked Williams Station, a stagecoach and Pony Express stop on the Carson River, killing five men and sparking the Pyramid Lake War.
Fort Churchill was garrisoned from 1860 to 1869 to protect travelers on the California and Pony Express trails, and its adobe ruins are preserved today as a state historic park.
The post cemetery at Fort Churchill held soldiers who died from local battles, exposure, and illness, and in February 1885, more than fifteen years after the fort closed, their remains were found still there.
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck near Silver Springs southeast of Lahontan Reservoir at about 6:29 p.m. on April 13, 2026, though no significant damage or injuries were reported.
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck about 11 miles southeast of Silver Springs around 10:30 a.m. on April 22, 2026, prompting county officials to urge residents to check for damage.
A man reported missing from Silver Springs on a Sunday was located by Lyon County Search and Rescue around 2:45 a.m. the following Monday, having suffered only minor injuries from a fall.
The ground was sold off from 1,800 acres bought in October 1949 by two Los Angeles salesmen, Merle Stanley Peek and Ben Klassen, who marketed the lots through newspaper advertisements rather than a town that had grown up on its own.
When did Silver Springs become an official town?
The settlement was recognised as the city of Silver Springs, Lyon County, Nevada, starting in 1954.
What happened at the gas station in Silver Springs in 2014?
In October 2014, a fight near the gas station at Nevada Avenue and Highway 95A ended with Robert Buchanan III shot dead; Santiago Fernandez was arrested days later and charged with his murder.
Who founded the Silver Springs Land Company?
Merle Stanley Peek and Ben Klassen founded it after buying 1,800 acres in October 1949; Klassen sold his share for $150,000 in 1952, and Phillip Hess then carried the company forward.
How many people live in Silver Springs?
By the 2020 census, 5,629 people lived in Silver Springs, most spread across rural lots rather than concentrated in a downtown, with a median age near 49.
What roads meet in Silver Springs?
US 50 and US 95A cross in Silver Springs; US 50 runs west to Carson City and east to Fallon, while US 95A runs north to Interstate 80 and south toward Yerington.
Where this came from
1
Wikipedia — Paiute raiders killed five men at Williams Station