Fish Lake Valley was settled after the Palmetto Mining District was discovered in 1866. In the 1870's, the Griffing & Wyman's and the Pacific Borax Works extracted borax at Fish Lake. The Carson and Columbus Stage Line ran northward to Aurora and Carson City, connecting with Log Springs in the Sylvania District and Lida. Local ranches supplied food to the freight industry and mining communities, and a post office opened in Fish Lake Valley in 1881. W. O. Harrell, known as "Harrell, the Irrepressible," was a notable citizen of Fish Valley in the 1870's.