Spafford Hall built a station and trading post in the early 1850's to accommodate emigrants bound for California. Hall, who was the area's first permanent settler, was severely injured in a hunting accident in 1854 and sold the station to one of his employees, James McMarlin, after which it became known as McMarlin's Station. Major Ormsby bought the station some time between 1854 and 1860; the title was still in his name in 1860 when he was killed in the first battle of the Pyramid Lake Indian War.

A special niche in Nevada's history is accorded this site as the place where the first recorded dance was held on New Year's Eve, 1853.

Exact site destroyed by borrow pit.

Citation from Nevada Division of Water Planning