city, seat (1902) of Churchill county, west-central Nevada, U.S. Fallon lies about 60 miles (100 km) east of Reno near the end of an arid valley called the 40-Mile Desert, much feared by early travelers along the Emigrant Trail. The Carson-Truckee Project (completed 1903) and Lahontan Dam (completed 1914), built on the Walker, Truckee, and Carson rivers, provided the reclamation and irrigation that changed much of the county from a desert into a major agricultural area producing various crops, poultry, and honey. Fallon Naval Air Station, founded in 1942 as a military aviation training centre, lies on the city's southern outskirts. Fort Churchill Historic State Monument and the Fallon Indian Reservation are nearby. Inc. 1908. Pop. (1990) 6,438; (2000) 7,536.