Nevada Trivia & Tidbits

Looking for Nevada trivia? Try our list Nevada little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

The ghost town of Rhyolite near Beatty (pop. 1,154), which once boasted nearly 10,000 inhabitants, has appeared in at least 16 movies since it was abandoned in 1916. The first, a silent movie titled The Air Mail with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., was released in 1925. The most recent was a 2005 sci-fi action adventure called The Island, starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson.

first appeared: 10/18/2009

The West's first train robbery occurred near Verdi (pop. 2,949) on Nov. 4, 1870, when five men boarded the Central Pacific Overland Express and seized more than $40,000 in gold coins from the train's Wells Fargo express car. According to several reports, the leader of the robbers, John Chapman, was a former Sunday school superintendent. All the thieves were eventually caught, tried and convicted.

first appeared: 10/4/2009

Named for natural patches of wild rye that once grew in the area, Rye Patch Reservoir, north of Lovelock (pop. 2,003), has about 11,000 acres of water and 72 miles of shoreline when the reservoir is full. The site once was the location of the Applegate Lassen Trail, a cutoff from the California Trail that miners took to reach California's goldfields. The area now is managed by the Division of State Parks.

first appeared: 9/20/2009

Against the stark Mohave Desert landscape four miles west of Beatty (pop. 1,154), a colossal sculpture depicts an interpretation of the Christ's Last Supper. The ghost-like figures and other eclectic sculptures by the late Albert Szukalski and a group of Belgian artists are part of the Goldwell Open Air Museum, which is open at all times.

first appeared: 9/6/2009

Until closing four years ago, the Liberty Belle Saloon and Restaurant in Reno was owned by Marshall and Frank Fey, sons of Charles Fey, inventor of the three-reel slot machine in California. The sons moved to Reno from San Francisco and ran the saloon from 1958 to 2006. Among its attractions were slot machines that the elder Frey had manufactured, and which now are exhibited at the Nevada State Museum.

first appeared: 8/23/2009

The oddly shaped tufa formations at Pyramid Lake north of Reno are made of calcium carbonate deposits formed by precipitation of cooler water over hot springs. Though not unique to Pryamid Lake, the large number of tufa towers and formations bearing names such as Indian Mother with Basket, Popcorn Rock, The Needles-as well as a large, almost perfect tufa pyramid-make the lake an interesting visit for the geologically minded.

first appeared: 8/9/2009

Nellis Air Force Base, northwest of Las Vegas, was established by President Franklin Roosevelt just prior to America's involvement in World War II as the Las Vegas Army Air Field, a training area for B-17 gunners. Today, Nellis specializes in advanced combat aviation training. The base's workforce of more than 12,000 makes it one of the largest employers in southern Nevada. The region's total military population numbers more than 50,000, including family members and military retirees.

first appeared: 7/26/2009

—The town of Denio straddles two states. Though most of the community, including the post office, lies in Humboldt County, Nev. (pop. 16,106), a portion is in Harney County, Ore. (pop. 7,608). One explanation says the post office, and thus the town, used to be in Oregon, until the postmaster moved it a few blocks south into Nevada.

first appeared: 7/12/2009

—With a claim on making the most out of a name, the Little A'le'inn restaurant and motel in Rachel serves alien burgers and decorates its walls with "UFO photos" and other memorabilia. Located on the Extraterrestrial Highway, so called because of its proximity to Nellis Air Force Range and the mysterious Area 51, Rachel has been called the "UFO Capital of the World."

first appeared: 6/28/2009

—The Marietta Wild Burro Range in Mineral County (pop. 5,071) comprises 68,000 acres and is home to about 85 burros. Designated a wild burro range in 1991 under the Bureau of Land Management, the area surrounding the historic mining town of Marietta provides a haven for the wild descendants of the pack animals that miners used during the late 1800s while prospecting for gold and silver.

first appeared: 6/14/2009

—Searchlight (pop. 576) is the hometown of U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, whose 1998 book, Searchlight: The Camp That Didn't Fail, chronicles the history of this boom and bust town. Founded in 1898, the gold rush community once boasted several thousand inhabitants, but the population dropped to about 50 by 1927. Today it is an interesting mix of old ghost-town-like structures and new buildings.

first appeared: 5/31/2009

—Crooner Bing Crosby owned several ranches near Elko (pop. 16,708), and spent summers there with his wife, Dixie, and their four sons. The townspeople apparently treated him like a local and he appreciated the chance to escape the hectic pace of his life and live like an ordinary citizen. Crosby was made honorary mayor in 1948, a position he held until his death in 1977.

first appeared: 5/17/2009

—Though George Hearst, the father of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, was a Californian and represented the state in the U.S. Senate, his considerable fortune began in Nevada. While working the California gold fields in the 1850s with only moderate success, he heard of Nevada's Comstock Lode, moved his operations there in 1859, and became a highly successful miner and entrepreneur, eventually expanding his mining operations throughout the west.

first appeared: 5/3/2009

–Nevada's first community college opened in Elko City (pop. 16,708) in 1967. Originally named Elko Community College, it is called Great Basin College today. The school was the forerunner of today's statewide system of community colleges associated with the University of Nevada.

first appeared: 4/19/2009

—Although the count may vary a bit (depending on who's counting) Nevada has some 170 peaks higher than 2,000 feet, with more than 30 mountains measuring in at more than 11,000. The highest, at 13,130, is Boundary Peak in Esmeralda County (pop. 971), halfway between Reno and Las Vegas.

first appeared: 4/5/2009

—The Black Rock Desert, north of Gerlach (pop. 499), best known for high-speed car trials and record-setting, also accommodates a number of rocket clubs. Several times a year, amateur rocketeers gather in the desert to launch sophisticated home-built rockets-some to extraordinary heights. In fact, rocket teams using the Black Rock Desert sometimes have been granted waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration to shoot up to 100,000 feet.

first appeared: 3/22/2009

—Opened in 2007, the Las Vegas Springs Preserve features 180 acres of botanical gardens, desert animals, historical artifacts and the site where springs once provided water for American Indians, Spanish explorers and early settlers. The springs also created a lush, grassy meadow that gave Las Vegas, which means “the meadows” in Spanish, its name.

first appeared: 3/8/2009

—Stretching 300 miles, northern Nevada’s Humboldt River is the longest river in North America’s arid Great Basin—and the longest river in the United States that has no outlet to the ocean. The meandering river drains most of the northern part of the state and empties into an area called the Humboldt Sink.

first appeared: 2/22/2009

—At 18,159 square miles, Nye County (pop. 32,485) in south-central Nevada is the third largest county in terms of area in the contiguous 48 states—after San Bernardino County in California and Coconino County in Arizona. The federal government owns 92 percent of the land in the county, much of which is arid desert.

first appeared: 2/8/2009

—When the Pioneer Building in Elko (pop. 16,708) was completed in 1913, it was the largest retail and office building in the community. The building was in decline when the Western Folklife Center purchased it in the early 1990s, but renovations have turned it into the center’s headquarters—its roots remain, however, including its original bar, made of mahogany.

first appeared: 1/11/2009

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