I'm guessing only a few of the wealthier inhabitants could afford a telephone, everyone else would ride their horse down to the store to make their calls. If the horse was particularly smart you could say, "Here, pony, YOU dial that thing!"

Seriously, Fernley was just a rail siding with a store, maybe one gasoline pump, for many years. I sent a copy of the phonebook listing to my property manager so she can get a chuckle out of it. Maybe she knows more about the history of that city.

Got another laugh out of the "Inn-Between" said to be halfway between Minden and Gardnerville. Those two places now touch one another.