Nordyke
The Wilson family, the first to settle in Mason Valley, arrived from Missouri about 1863. In 1892, David Wilson & Sons erected a flour mill and established the community of Nordyke, so named for Addison H. Nordyke of Nordyke Marmon & Co., who supplied and installed the mill's equipment. Initially, this mill could produce forty barrels of flour per day, and its location along the stage road to Wabuska and the railroad provided convenient shipping and distribution. In 1897, the David Wilson & Sons firm was dissolved, instead becoming J.W. Wilson & Brothers, and at this time J.W. Wilson relocated to Nordyke from Pine Grove (where he operated a mill).
In 1903, Wilson began construction on a fine home using lumber recycled and shipped from Virginia City. It was completed about 1905, the same year a Pelton wheel was added to the flour mill to increase efficiency. In 1910, Nordyke gained a station on the new Nevada Copper Belt Railroad, and at that time the post office served about 150 people. By 1914, however, most activity had declined and Nordyke dwindled.
Wilson finally sold the property to Alfrid Bohm in the 1940s, and Bohm subsequently electrified the mill and converted it to produce powdered alfalfa. This lasted until the mid-1950s, when the wooden part of the mill was destroyed by fire. The impressive Wilson home, however, still stands (now known as the Nordyke House) and was lovingly restored by Tom and Judy Price, who purchased it in 1997. In 2014, it was listed on the Nevada Register of Historic Places.
