Nevada
Nevada is a state in the Western United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 32nd most populous, but the 9th least densely populated of the U. S. states. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area where three of the state's four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada's capital, however, is Carson City. Nevada is known as the "Silver State" because of the importance of silver to its history and economy, it is known as the "Battle Born State", because it achieved statehood during the Civil War. Nevada is desert and semi-arid, much of it within the Great Basin. Areas south of the Great Basin are within the Mojave Desert, while Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada lie on the western edge. About 86% of the state's land is managed by various jurisdictions of the U. S. federal government, both civilian and military.
Before European contact, Native Americans of the Paiute and Washoe tribes inhabited the land, now Nevada. The first Europeans to explore the region were Spanish, they called the region Nevada because of the snow. The area formed part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, became part of Mexico when it gained independence in 1821; the United States annexed the area in 1848 after its victory in the Mexican–American War, it was incorporated as part of Utah Territory in 1850. The discovery of silver at the Comstock Lode in 1859 led to a population boom that became an impetus to the creation of Nevada Territory out of western Utah Territory in 1861. Nevada became the 36th state on October 31, 1864, as the second of two states added to the Union during the Civil War. Nevada has a reputation for its libertarian laws. In 1940, with a population of just over 110,000 people, Nevada was by far the least-populated state, with less than half the population of the next least-populated state. However, legalized gambling and lenient marriage and divorce laws transformed Nevada into a major tourist destination in the 20th century.
Nevada is the only U. S. state where prostitution is legal, though it is illegal in Clark County, Washoe County and Carson City. The tourism industry remains Nevada's largest employer, with mining continuing as a substantial sector of the economy: Nevada is the fourth-largest producer of gold in the world; the name "Nevada" comes from meaning "snow-covered", after the Sierra Nevada. Most Nevadans pronounce the second syllable of their state name using the TRAP vowel. Many from outside the Western United States pronounce it with the PALM vowel. Although the latter pronunciation is closer to the Spanish pronunciation, it is not the pronunciation preferred by most Nevadans. State Assemblyman Harry Mortenson proposed a bill to recognize the alternate pronunciation of Nevada, though the bill was not supported by most legislators and never received a vote; the Nevadan pronunciation is the de facto official one, since it is the one used by the state legislature. At one time, the state's official tourism organization, TravelNevada, stylized the name of the state as "Nevăda", with a breve mark over the a indicating the locally preferred pronunciation, available as a license plate design.
Nevada is entirely within the Basin and Range Province, is broken up by many north-south mountain ranges. Most of these ranges have endorheic valleys between them, which belies the image portrayed by the term Great Basin. Much of the northern part of the state is within the Great Basin, a mild desert that experiences hot temperatures in the summer and cold temperatures in the winter. Moisture from the Arizona Monsoon will cause summer thunderstorms; the state's highest recorded temperature was 125 °F in Laughlin on June 29, 1994. The coldest recorded temperature was −52 °F set in San Jacinto in 1972, in the northeastern portion of the state; the Humboldt River crosses the state from east to west across the northern part of the state, draining into the Humboldt Sink near Lovelock. Several rivers drain from the Sierra Nevada eastward, including the Walker and Carson rivers. All of these rivers are endorheic basins, ending in Walker Lake, Pyramid Lake, the Carson Sink, respectively. However, not all of Nevada is within the Great Basin.
Tributaries of the Snake River drain the far north, while the Colorado River, which forms much of the boundary with Arizona, drains much of southern Nevada. The mountain ranges, some of which have peaks above 13,000 feet, harbor lush forests high above desert plains, creating sky islands for endemic species; the valleys are no lower in elevation than 3,000 feet, while some in central Nevada are above 6,000 feet. The southern third of the state, where the Las Vegas area is situated, is within the Mojave Desert; the area is closer to the Arizona Monsoon in the summer. The terrain is lower below 4,000 feet, creating conditions for hot summer days and cool to chilly winter nights. Nevada and California have by far the longest diagonal line as a state boundary at just over 400 miles; this line begins in Lake Tahoe nearly
White Pine County, Nevada
White Pine County is a rural, mountain county along the central eastern boundary of the U. S. state of Nevada. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,030, its county seat is Ely. The name "White Pine" is an old name for a common tree in the county's mountains; the county boasts clean air and millions of acres of unspoiled public land. It is the home of Great Basin National Park, one of America's most remote and least visited national parks, it is home to no less than 14 federally designated wilderness areas, offering an abundance of terrain available to explore for hikers, skiers and anglers. The Ely Shoshone Indian Reservation is located on the south side of the City of Ely; the reservation has a land area of 104.99 acres and a 2000 census official resident population of 133 persons. European settlement in White Pine County began with mining exploration, activity generated by the Pony Express Trail, farming; the county was established by the Nevada legislature in 1869 from Lander County and named after the heavy growth of limber pine trees in the area, which were called white pine.
Hamilton was the first county seat from 1869 to 1887. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 8,897 square miles, of which 8,876 square miles is land and 21 square miles is water. Several sections of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest exist within the county, within the Snake Range, Egan Range, White Pine Range, Ruby Mountains, Schell Creek Range; the county contains Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park and Cave Lake State Park. In the southeastern part of the county within Great Basin National Park lies 13,065 ft Wheeler Peak, the tallest independent mountain within Nevada and the second-highest point within the state, it is the most topographically prominent peak in the county and the second-most prominent peak in Nevada. White Pine County is home to a number of designated wilderness areas, they were created by Congress on December 20, 2006, by the "White Pine County Conservation and Development Act of 2006." About half are integral parts of Humboldt National Forest.
The rest are managed by the Bureau of Land Management. One is shared between the two agencies; some extend into neighboring counties. Bald Mountain Wilderness Becky Peak Wilderness Bristlecone Wilderness Currant Mountain Wilderness in Nye County, NV Goshute Canyon Wilderness Government Peak Wilderness High Schells Wilderness Highland Ridge Wilderness Mount Grafton Wilderness in Lincoln County, NV Mount Moriah Wilderness Red Mountain Wilderness in Nye County, NV Shellback Wilderness South Egan Range Wilderness in Lincoln County, NV. Although mining has been a major employer throughout the county's history and services related to outdoor recreation are beginning to account for a larger share of jobs in the region; as of the census of 2000, there were 9,181 people, 3,282 households, 2,159 families residing in the county. The population density was 1.0 people per square mile. There were 4,439 housing units at an average density of 0.50 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 86.35% White, 4.14% Black or African American, 3.29% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 0.24% Pacific Islander, 3.09% from other races, 2.10% from two or more races.
10.98% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 3,282 households out of which 31.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.80% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.2% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.01. In the county, the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 128.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 138.5 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,688, the median income for a family was $44,136. Males had a median income of $36,083 versus $26,425 for females; the per capita income for the county was $18,309.
About 10.3% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 10,030 people, 3,707 households, 2,344 families residing in the county; the population density was 1.1 inhabitants per square mile. There were 4,498 housing units at an average density of 0.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 85.5% white, 4.2% American Indian, 3.9% black or African American, 1
Nevada State Route 375
State Route 375 is a state highway in south-central Nevada in the United States. The highway stretches 98 miles from State Route 318 at Crystal Springs northwest to U. S. Route 6 at Warm Springs; the route travels through unoccupied desert terrain, with much of its alignment paralleling the northern edges of the Nellis Air Force Range. The road traversed through what is now the northern reaches of the air force range in the 1930s, when it was designated State Route 25A and part of State Route 25; the top-secret Area 51 government base is near SR 375, many travelers have reported UFO observations and other strange alien activity along this road. Such stories prompted the state to designate the route as the Extraterrestrial Highway in 1996; the small town of Rachel, located near the midpoint of the highway, caters to tourists, UFO seekers with alien-themed businesses. Although the area receives some tourism due to alleged extraterrestrial activity, SR 375 remains a traveled route. State Route 375 begins at a "Y" junction with State Route 318 at Crystal Springs, a ghost town in the northern end of the Pahranagat Valley in the center of Lincoln County.
The site, little more than the junction and a few trees, functions as a rest area. From Crystal Springs, the highway curves southwest to pass between the Pahrangat and Mount Irish ranges to ascend 5,592-foot Hancock Summit. Descending the summit, SR 375 nears the border of the Nellis Air Force Range; as the highway heads northwest through Tikaboo Valley, it meets Mail Box Road. It used to be marked by a single postal drop known as the "black mailbox": the dirt access road leads to the restricted lands surrounding Area 51; the original mailbox was a normal black mailbox, however due to people sifting through it, it was replaced with a white one, much more secure. The name "Black Mailbox" still stuck, it was used as a gathering place for UFO seekers, two to three UFO sightings per week occur in the area. The mailbox was removed by Steve Medlin, due to continued vandalism. SR 375 continues heading northwest from the mailbox, climbing in elevation again to reach the top of Coyote Summit at 5,591 feet.
West of the summit, the Extraterrestrial Highway descends into the Sand Spring Valley and the community of Rachel becomes visible. The small town of about 50 residents is little more than a few businesses; the Little A'Le'Inn is the focal point of the town, providing a small motel, an alien-themed restaurant/bar, extraterrestrial souvenirs. The civilian-run Area 51 Research Center, based out of a yellow house trailer and documenting paranormal activity in the area, closed in 2001. Leaving Rachel, SR 375 continues northwest to enter Nye County; the route climbs out of Sand Spring Valley and heads over the 5,935-foot Queen City Summit, the highest point on the highway. After passing the summit, the route descends into the southern end of Railroad Valley, curving nearly due north for several miles as it follows the base of Reveille Range; as the mountains subside, the road turns westward again to head to its northern terminus at the junction of US 6 at Warm Springs. An unimproved road approximating the present alignment of State Route 375 came into existence by 1932.
This route, christened State Route 25A, connected Crystal Springs to State Route 4 just east of Tonopah. By 1933, SR 25A had been renumbered to become a new western segment of State Route 25; the route underwent periodic realignments over the next few years, but the highway's terminal junctions remained unchanged. In 1942, SR 25 appeared to have a significant gap in its route. State maps from the time show a large area within Nye and Lincoln Counties where all roads had been removed; the route existed in one piece again by 1946, although it had been realigned northward and shortened to 111 miles. A sizable portion of SR 25 passing through the Tonopah U. S. Army Air Force Bombing Range was restricted from public travel by 1950, the restricted section being the same area, removed in 1942. To avoid the restricted area of the testing range, the west end of SR 25 was realigned by 1957; the highway connected to US 6 at Warm Springs about 37 miles east of the previous terminus, heading north around the Reveille Range instead of climbing the Kawich Range within the bombing area.
With the 1957 realignment, the routing of SR 25 attained its final form. The entire highway was paved by the following year. SR 25 remained unchanged until the 1976 renumbering of Nevada's state highways, through which the western section of SR 25 became the new State Route 375; the new route number was first seen on the 1978 edition of the official state highway map. In 1989, an engineer named Bob Lazar claimed to have worked on alien spaceships and to have viewed saucer test flights in Tikaboo Valley, telling his story to a Las Vegas television station, subsequently broadcast as an exclusive report. By the 1990s, stories of the top-secret U. S. government base at Area 51 had become mainstream, many books and personal accounts had been published regarding extraterrestrial spacecraft and alien activity in the region surrounding Groom Lake. Rachel, being the closest settlement to the restricted facility, attracted people in search of UFOs and alien life. To capitalize on the purported paranormal activity along the route, the Nevada Commission on Tourism sought to rename the highway.
State officials drew inspiration from the alien legends and dubbed SR 375 the Extraterrestrial Highway in February 1996. The tourism commission hoped that the renaming would "draw travelers to the austere and
Nevada Department of Transportation
The Nevada Department of Transportation is a government agency in the U. S. state of Nevada. NDOT is responsible for maintaining and improving Nevada's highway system, which includes U. S. highways and Interstate highways within the state's boundaries. The department is notable for its aggressively proactive approach to highway maintenance. Nevada state roads and bridges have been named some of the nation's best; the state of Nevada is facing a multibillion-dollar transportation funding deficit, NDOT is developing potential transportation funding sources through the Pioneer Program and Vehicle Miles Traveled Fee Study. For those driving in Nevada, NDOT offers updated road conditions and construction reports through the 511 Nevada Travel Info system. NDOT headquarters is located on Stewart Street in Nevada. List of Nevada state highways Official website Nevada Department of Transportation - Road Conditions
Ely, Nevada
Ely is the largest city and county seat of White Pine County, United States. Ely was founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Central Overland Route. In 1906 copper was discovered. Ely's mining boom came than the other towns along US 50; the railroads connecting the transcontinental railroad to the mines in Austin and Eureka, Nevada have long been removed, but the railroad to Ely is preserved as a heritage railway by the Nevada Northern Railway and known as the Ghost Train of Old Ely. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,255. In 1878, Vermont resident J. W. Long came to White Pine County and soon set up a camp known as "Ely", after discovering gold; the name "Ely" has been credited to several possible origins: Long's hometown of Ely, Vermont. Ely was founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Central Overland Route. Ely's mining boom came than the other towns along US 50, with the discovery of copper in 1906; this made Ely a mining town. Ely was home to a number of copper mining companies, Kennecott being the most famous.
With a crash in the copper market in the mid-1970s, Kennecott shut down and copper mining disappeared. With the advent of cyanide heap leaching—a method of extracting gold from what was considered low-grade ore—the next boom was on. Many companies processed the massive piles of "overburden", removed from copper mines, or expanded the existing open-pit mines to extract the gold ore. Gold mines as widespread as the Robinson project near Ruth, AmSelco's Alligator Ridge mine 65 miles from Ely, kept the town alive during the 1980s and 1990s, until the recent revival of copper mining; as Kennecott's smelter was demolished, copper concentrate from the mine is now shipped by rail to Seattle, where it is transported to Japan for smelting. The dramatic increase in demand for copper in 2005 has once again made Ely a copper boom town; the now-defunct BHP Nevada Railroad ran from the mining district south of Ruth through Ely to the junction with the Union Pacific at Shafter from 1996–1999. Ely is 77 miles east of Eureka, Nevada, 153 miles west of Delta, Utah, 105 miles north of Pioche, Nevada, 139 miles south of Wells, 120 miles south of West Wendover, Nevada.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.1 square miles, all of it land. Ely experiences a semi-arid climate, extreme day-night temperature differences year-round. Ely’s nighttime temperatures account for it being listed as one of the coldest places in the contiguous United States, with an average of 217.6 nights per year with a minimum temperature of 32 °F or less, 17.5 nights reaching 0 °F or less, 23 days where the high does not top freezing. On average, the first and last dates of freezing temperatures are September 6 and June 18 allowing a growing season of only 79 days. Frosts have occurred in every month July; the diurnal temperature range of Ely is so great due to its elevation, dry air, clear skies, location in a valley, allowing for intense radiative cooling at sunset after hot summer days. The monthly mean temperature ranges from 25.3 °F in January to 67.8 °F in July. High temperatures of 90 °F or higher occur on an average of 25.8 days annually, due to the elevation and aridity, the low rarely manages to stay at or above 60 °F or 16 °C.
Extreme temperatures ranged from 101 °F on July 18, 1998 down to −30 °F on February 6, 1989. On average, annual precipitation is 9.76 inches, with 75 days of measurable precipitation annually. The wettest calendar year has been 1897 with 16.16 inches and the driest 1974 with 4.22 inches, though as much as 18.20 inches or 462.3 millimetres fell from July 1982 to June 1983. The most precipitation in one month was 5.52 inches in April 1900, the most in 24 hours was 2.52 inches on September 26, 1982. Average annual snowfall is 50.8 inches, while the most snowfall in one month was 42.0 inches in March 1894, the greatest depth of snow on the ground 24 inches or 0.61 metres on January 23, 2010 – though data from neighbouring Elko suggest greater depths in the winters of 1889/1890, 1915/1916 and 1931/1932. An average winter will see a maximum snow cover of 9 inches or 0.23 metres, though the severe winter of 1951/1952 had fifty days with snow cover over 10 inches or 0.25 metres. The most snowfall in a season has been 110.4 inches from July 2010 to June 2011 and the least 12.1 inches from July 1950 to June 1951.
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,041 people, 1,727 households, 1,065 families residing in the city. The population density was 566.8 people per square mile. There were 2,205 housing units at an average density of 309.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 89.14% White, 0.32% African American, 3.12% Native American, 1.09% Asian, 0.35% Pacific Islander, 3.71% from other races, 2.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.35% of the population. There were 1,727 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.3% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% ha
Hiko, Nevada
Hiko is a small, agrarian community in the Tonopah Basin on State Route 318 in Lincoln County, United States. It is a census-designated place, with a population of 119 at the 2010 census; the first permanent settlement at Hiko was made in 1853. Hiko was the county seat of Lincoln County from 1867 to 1871 and a few hundred residents lived nearby, due to silver mines in the area. Today, the area is a farming and ranching area, not much remains of the old town except the cemetery, some mill ruins and a red rock building, a general store. Although populated, Hiko appears on at least two ghost town lists. Most of the residents of Hiko own farms or ranches, little to no industrial activity takes place there. In 1871 Hiko was replaced as the county seat of Lincoln County with Pioche; the Hiko and Crystal Springs provide a large supply of water for the Hiko ranches. The Hiko farming community is located in the north end of the Pahranagat Valley and lies at an elevation of 3,869 feet, with a ZIP code of 89017.
Nevada portal List of census-designated places in Nevada Weepah Spring Wilderness Media related to Hiko, Nevada at Wikimedia Commons Ghosttowns.com History of Lincoln County Ghost Town Seekers
Google
Google LLC is an American multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products, which include online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing and hardware. It is considered one of the Big Four technology companies, alongside Amazon and Facebook. Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph. D. students at Stanford University in California. Together they own about 14 percent of its shares and control 56 percent of the stockholder voting power through supervoting stock, they incorporated Google as a held company on September 4, 1998. An initial public offering took place on August 19, 2004, Google moved to its headquarters in Mountain View, nicknamed the Googleplex. In August 2015, Google announced plans to reorganize its various interests as a conglomerate called Alphabet Inc. Google is Alphabet's leading subsidiary and will continue to be the umbrella company for Alphabet's Internet interests. Sundar Pichai was appointed CEO of Google.
The company's rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products and partnerships beyond Google's core search engine. It offers services designed for work and productivity, email and time management, cloud storage, instant messaging and video chat, language translation and navigation, video sharing, note-taking, photo organizing and editing; the company leads the development of the Android mobile operating system, the Google Chrome web browser, Chrome OS, a lightweight operating system based on the Chrome browser. Google has moved into hardware. Google has experimented with becoming an Internet carrier. Google.com is the most visited website in the world. Several other Google services figure in the top 100 most visited websites, including YouTube and Blogger. Google is the most valuable brand in the world as of 2017, but has received significant criticism involving issues such as privacy concerns, tax avoidance, antitrust and search neutrality. Google's mission statement is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful".
The companies unofficial slogan "Don't be evil" was removed from the company's code of conduct around May 2018. Google began in January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were both PhD students at Stanford University in Stanford, California. While conventional search engines ranked results by counting how many times the search terms appeared on the page, the two theorized about a better system that analyzed the relationships among websites, they called this new technology PageRank. Page and Brin nicknamed their new search engine "BackRub", because the system checked backlinks to estimate the importance of a site, they changed the name to Google. The domain name for Google was registered on September 15, 1997, the company was incorporated on September 4, 1998, it was based in the garage of a friend in California. Craig Silverstein, a fellow PhD student at Stanford, was hired as the first employee. Google was funded by an August 1998 contribution of $100,000 from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems.
Google received money from three other angel investors in 1998: Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, Stanford University computer science professor David Cheriton, entrepreneur Ram Shriram. Between these initial investors and family Google raised around 1 million dollars, what allowed them to open up their original shop in Menlo Park, California After some additional, small investments through the end of 1998 to early 1999, a new $25 million round of funding was announced on June 7, 1999, with major investors including the venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital. In March 1999, the company moved its offices to Palo Alto, home to several prominent Silicon Valley technology start-ups; the next year, Google began selling advertisements associated with search keywords against Page and Brin's initial opposition toward an advertising-funded search engine. To maintain an uncluttered page design, advertisements were text-based. In June 2000, it was announced that Google would become the default search engine provider for Yahoo!, one of the most popular websites at the time, replacing Inktomi.
In 2003, after outgrowing two other locations, the company leased an office complex from Silicon Graphics, at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California. The complex became known as the Googleplex, a play on the word googolplex, the number one followed by a googol zeroes. Three years Google bought the property from SGI for $319 million. By that time, the name "Google
US 93 near Hiko
US 6 northwest of Preston
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SR 375 (Extraterrestrial Highway) – Rachel
SR 895 – Preston
Media related to Nevada State Route 318 at Wikimedia Commons
