Name/Title
Abbott Way StationEntry/Object ID
2009.100.0010Description
Abbott way station on Mesquite Blvd. Walking tour #3
In 1917 David and Emma Abbott bought the house on the corner of Yucca and Mesquite Blvd. and three-quarters of the block on which it stood. The 4-room house was built of adobe brick and plastered with cement on both the inside and the outside. The outside and interior walls were almost a foot thick. This made the house easier to keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
The Abbott's operated a small grocery store in the front room for a couple of years, then they built a small building for the store on the southwest corner of the block. They had a camp ground for horse drawn wagons at the west of the house. At the time, nearly all travel and freighting was done by horse and wagon or buggy. The Abbott's had a hay stack, a place to water the horses, and space for travelers to camp.
On the lot at the north of the house was an outhouse and a wash house. The tubs and laundry soap were kept in the wash house. Once a week, water was heated in the "black tub" over an open fire to do the "washing" (laundry). A shower stall was built in the wash house, with a tub on a platform over the stall. The bottom of the tub had been punctured with nails so that the water would drip down on the person underneath, giving a refreshing shower. Water was also heated in the "black tub" for the shower. Dusty travelers and freight haulers who were camping in the campground could refresh themselves with a shower and wash their clothes if they desired.
This was one of the first truck stops (wagon freight haulers), RV parks (wagon or buggy travelers), showers, restrooms, laundromats, mini-markets and fuel stations (haystacks) in the Virgin Valley.