by Susan Couso
The territory near old Amedee sits atop a marl of lime which spans the area around Pyramid Lake and far into California. Lime has an adhesive quality and is used in construction as a binding material for such things as masonry and plaster. It also has many other practical uses.
To extract lime from rock (limestone), the ore must be burned or baked in a kiln.
By 1891, the Amedee Lime Works was sending 2 to 3 rail car loads of lime rock per week to the kilns in Reno. Then, in 1893, Charley Falding built a kiln of stone at Amedee.
By 1902, the Sierra Lime Company of Reno took note of the area. They purchased a large deposit of high-grade lime rock near Amedee and built a temporary kiln to test the ore.
An addition was being planned for the Flanigan Warehouse Company, in Reno, for storage. S. M. Sample, manager for the Flanigan Warehouse Co., arranged for construction of kilns at Amedee for the Sierra Lime Co.
The lime rock had been tested via analysis and practical testing and showed to be of the highest-grade lime. There was a lot of hope that this new discovery would fuel the construction industry in the Reno area by providing a nearby quality product.
Freight costs continued to climb, and the cost of lime remained low. The remoteness of the Amedee site proved to be the downfall of the lime industry there.
As late as the 1920’s, industrious businessmen tried to make their fortunes with Amedee lime but failed.
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