There was a time that small towns thrived throughout the region and elsewhere.  The automobile had a profound impact on these communities, but that is another story.  Spoonville  was a small town located several miles northeast of Janesville on the way to Standish. Its development was different than most, while many had their origins as a stage stop, that was not the case with Spoonville. Its origins began with the creation of the Missouri Bend School, so named because many of the original settlers there came from Missouri.

In 1897, William E. Spoon established the Honey Lake Creamery near the Missouri Bend School. Spoon would eventually establish a general store and, for a time, it was operated by the  Christie Brothers. Thus the nucleus of a town was formed. In 1903, Robert Dunn built the 20-room Spoonville Hotel. On May 29, 1905, Spoon sold his remaining interests there to Ebenezer Cooley Brown, for an undisclosed amount. Though a small town, with less than thirty inhabitants, it was the “corporate” headquarters of the Lassen Mill & Lumber Company, Baxter Creek Irrigation Company and the Pacific Coast Bear Club. Members of the Pacific Coast Bear Club included such dignitaries as President Theodore Roosevelt and Nevada Governor John Sparks.

In 1913, the town’s name was changed to Edgemont, as part of a real estate promotion scheme. After all, with the arrival of the Fernley & Lassen Railroad in the Honey Lake Valley, realtors thought towns that ended in “ville” conceived  the impression of some kind of “hick” outpost. M.E. “Mul” Mulroney, a native of Spoonville, recalled the town was already in decline before the name change which did nothing to correct the situation. In addition, Mul stated that in the early 1920s the second story of the Dunn Hotel was removed and the building was converted into a dance hall. He further stated it was torn down sometime in the 1930s.

Today, not much is left except for the abandoned two-story residence of E.C. Brown and the defunct Missouri Bend School.

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