Nevada Trivia & Tidbits - Page 13

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

The first school in what is now Nevada was located in the home of Carson Valley settler Israel Mott and his wife in the mid-1850s. Mrs. Mott was the first woman to settle permanently in the Carson Valley, near present-day Lake Tahoe.

first appeared: 1/26/2003

Nevada has two official trees—the singleleaf pinyon and the bristlecone pine. The singleleaf, an aromatic pine tree, can reach heights of 50 feet in ideal conditions. The bristlecone is thought by many to produce the oldest living plants on Earth. Some specimens in Nevada are deemed more than 4,000 years old.

first appeared: 1/19/2003

Nevada was named in 1861, the year the territory was established. The name comes from a Spanish word meaning “snow-capped.”

first appeared: 1/12/2003

Nevada’s official grass is Indian ricegrass. Once a staple for the state’s American Indian populations, it provides valuable feed for wildlife and livestock. The grass, found throughout the state, is known for its ability to grow in adverse conditions.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

The tower at the Stratosphere Casino Hotel in Las Vegas is the country’s tallest freestanding observation tower at 1,149 feet. Completed in 1996, it features two thrill rides—a roller coaster and a zero gravity ride.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

St. Rose Dominican Hospital was founded in Henderson in 1947 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, an order dating to 12th-century France. St. Rose was the first fully accredited hospital in Southern Nevada.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

The state reptile is the desert tortoise, the largest reptile in the southwestern United States. The tortoise, which can live to age 70 and beyond, spends much of its life in underground burrows to escape the summer heat and winter cold in Nevada’s extreme southern portions.

first appeared: 12/22/2002

The East Ely Railroad Depot Museum is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Nevada’s mining and transportation heritage. Established in the early 1990s, the museum in Ely (pop. 4,041) also focuses on Nevada’s industrial development, as evidenced by the area’s massive copper production, which began in 1900.

first appeared: 12/15/2002

The state fossil is the Ichthyosaur. Nevada is the only state to possess a complete skeleton—approximately 50 feet long—of this extinct marine reptile.

first appeared: 12/15/2002

Nevada State Museum in Carson City, housed in the former U.S. Mint, features examples of Nevada’s history, geology, and culture, including full-size replicas of a ghost town and an underground mine. Other exhibits include the battleship U.S.S. Nevada’s silver service, fashioned from 5,000 ounces of silver.

first appeared: 12/8/2002

Sarah Winnemucca, founder of Nevada’s first school for American Indians in 1884, will be honored with a statue in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection. Winnemucca, the daughter of Chief Winnemucca and granddaughter of Chief Truckee, helped guide explorer John C. Fremont during his expedition across the Great Basin.

first appeared: 12/1/2002

Soldier Meadows Ranch, in the northwestern corner of the state, got its military-sounding name because it was once an outpost of Fort McGarry, established near Summit Lake in the 1860s. The area is also the only place the desert dace, a tiny fish that lives in hot spring water, is known to inhabit.

first appeared: 11/24/2002

Nevada is the largest gold-producing state in the nation, second in the world behind South Africa.

first appeared: 11/17/2002

The Chollar Mine in Storey County near Virginia City (pop. 1,000) began operation in 1859 and was consolidated with the Potosi in 1865 to become one of the major producers of the legendary Comstock Lode. It is the last remaining Comstock mine open to the public for tours.

first appeared: 11/17/2002

The six dome-shaped structures resembling huge beehives near Willow Creek in Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park, south of Ely (pop. 4,041), were built as ovens in 1873 to turn wood into charcoal needed to fuel nearby ore smelters.

first appeared: 11/10/2002

The rivers in the southeastern part of the state belong to the Colorado River system, while those of the extreme north drain into the Snake River. Most Nevada rivers, such as the Humboldt, go nowhere, usually ending in alkali sinks except when diverted for irrigation.

first appeared: 11/3/2002

A Colorado Blue Spruce planted in 1876 is the center of a revered holiday tradition in Nevada. The tree—the state’s official Christmas tree—was first lit in 1937 after a club in Carson City asked a state board “to authorize the electric lighting of the fir tree in the Capitol Square.” The tradition continued until 1972, when the lights were turned off to save energy, then resurrected in 1988. The blue spruce, approximately 95 feet tall, was part of the first major landscaping project around the Capitol.

first appeared: 11/3/2002

To get from Los Angeles, Calif., to Reno, Nev., you must head northwest, not northeast.

first appeared: 10/27/2002

The U.S. government owns 40 percent of the land in America and 86 percent of the state of Nevada.

first appeared: 10/27/2002

Thelma Catherine Ryan was born on St. Patrick’s Day, 1912, in Ely (pop. 4,978), the daughter of a copper miner who nicknamed her “Pat.” She later became a high school teacher in Whittier, Calif., where she met a young, politically minded attorney named Richard M. Nixon. The two were married on June 21, 1940. Nixon became this country’s 37th president.

first appeared: 10/20/2002

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.