Nevada Trivia & Tidbits - Page 14

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

The state’s only commercial winery, Pahrump Valley Vineyards, is located in the Mojave Desert. More than 60 years ago, a desert settler had grown grapes in the area and a later feasibility study determined that a desert vineyard was possible in the harsh climate. Each year the Pahrump vineyards produce 20,000 cases of wine and host more than 100,000 visitors.

first appeared: 10/13/2002

In 2000, the Department of Transportation designated the six-lane, 4.5-mile Las Vegas Strip an All-American Road—calling its bright lights, hotels, and casinos “an American icon.” It is the only such road in the U.S. that is more scenic at night than during the day.

first appeared: 10/6/2002

Nevada is rich in geothermal resources, with more hot springs for its size than any other state. It has 15 geothermal plants, producing electricity from the heat in underground water.

first appeared: 10/6/2002

The original neon cowboy at the Pioneer Club (now closed) in Las Vegas was five stories high. “Vegas Vic” was the product of a post World War II booster campaign and became an icon, calling out “Howdy Pard’ner” as his mechanical arm waved. When the Fremont Street canopy was built in the early 1990s—a canopy of 2 million lights covering three blocks—Vic was given a choice: be relocated or be beheaded. He was removed and reconstructed to fit under the canopy, but he no longer waves.

first appeared: 9/29/2002

The Lamoille Canyon Road, part of the Nevada Scenic Byway system, leads to hiking trails, mountain lakes, and incomparable scenery. The canyon, carved by an ancient glacier, lies within the Ruby Mountains in the northeastern part of the state. The road itself circumnavigates the base of the 11,387-foot Ruby Dome and passes through the canyon.

first appeared: 9/22/2002

Pilot Peak, north of West Wendover (pop. 4,721), was a landmark to pioneers heading across the Great Salt Lake Desert along the Hastings Cutoff of the California Emigrant Trail. Explorer John C. Fremont named the peak during his 1845 excursion across the desert. His guide, Kit Carson, went ahead in search of water and found springs at the peak’s base. According to legend, Fremont chose the name Pilot Peak because Carson sent up smoke signals from the mountain to guide the party across the desert.

first appeared: 9/15/2002

Just south of Indian Springs (pop. 1,302), in the Toiyabe National Forest, Mount Charleston provides a cool summer sanctuary for visitors to southern Nevada. Its 11,968-foot elevation creates a climate 20 degrees cooler than the Las Vegas Valley below.

first appeared: 9/8/2002

Mormon Station State Historic Park commemorates Genoa’s early permanent non-native settlement, including a replica of the 1851 trading post that contains relics from those early days.

first appeared: 9/1/2002

Soon after William Talcott discovered silver in what would become Austin, in 1862, the town exploded as fortune seekers flocked to the area. Talcott made the discovery while hauling wood from nearby Pony Canyon near the Reese River. His strike launched the “rush to Reese.”

first appeared: 8/25/2002

The historic mining town of Dayton was named in 1861 for John Day, who had surveyed the town site. Before the area was officially named, it was home to gold prospectors who settled there in 1849. By 1856, many of the original prospectors had abandoned the site, and by the early 1860s, stamp mills—used to crush ore—were built in the area to process silver and gold.

first appeared: 8/18/2002

Winnemucca (pop. 7,174) is the only city in Nevada named for an American Indian. Officials of the Central Pacific Railroad named the town for the famous Paiute chief in 1866. The town had been called French Ford.

first appeared: 8/11/2002

The state’s oldest and largest state park is Valley of Fire, just west of Lake Mead. Dedicated in 1935, it includes 3,000-year-old petroglyphs showing the use of the atlatl, a notched stick used to throw spears and a predecessor of the bow and arrow. Petrified logs that washed into the area 225 million years ago and the Seven Sisters red rock formations are other park attractions.

first appeared: 8/4/2002

The Lost City Museum in Overton at the northern tip of Lake Mead exhibits relics excavated from the Pueblo Grande de Nevada, also known as the Lost City. The museum was built in 1935 to house artifacts excavated from Anasazi Indian sites threatened by the waters of Lake Mead after Hoover Dam was built. Explorer Jedidiah Smith found stone tools from the area during his travels in 1826-27.

first appeared: 7/28/2002

Walker Lake in western Nevada is named for Joseph Walker, a guide for famed western explorer John C. Fremont. Fremont visited the area in 1845, and the lake is included in the earliest maps of what would become Mineral County.

first appeared: 7/21/2002

Camels might seem odd in western Nevada, but for a time they hauled wood and salt to the mines and mills of the Comstock in the mid- to late-1800s.

first appeared: 7/14/2002

The East Ely Railroad Depot Museum in Ely (pop. 4,041) tells the story of industrial development in the state since copper production began in the area in 1900. The area’s mining heritage and the history of local transportation are the focus of the museum, housed in the Nevada Northern Railroad Depot Building.

first appeared: 7/7/2002

Nevada’s capitol has served the state since its completion in 1871. It is built of sandstone from the quarry of Abe Curry, founder of Carson City. Among the building’s displays is a chair made of elk horns used by John Sparks, governor from 1903 to 1908. The elk-horn chair also served as Theodore Roosevelt’s honorary chair when he was welcomed to the capital in 1903.

first appeared: 6/30/2002

Before Hoover Dam could be built in the 1930s, Boulder City (pop. 14,966) had to be erected to house the thousands of hired workers. Then a seven-mile highway was forged from the city to the dam site. Finally, railroad track from the Union Pacific line in Las Vegas and a power transmission line from San Bernardino, Calif., had to be connected to the site.

first appeared: 6/23/2002

Rafael Rivera is credited with being the first Caucasian to traverse the Las Vegas Valley, having discovered a route through the Vegas Wash to the Mojave River in California, in January 1830. The way became a link on the Old Spanish Trail, mapped in 1844 by explorer John C. Fremont. Three years later the route and an extension going to the Salt Lake Valley became known as the Mormon Trail.

first appeared: 6/16/2002

Washoe Lake and Washoe Valley take their names from the Washoe Indians, who used the willows and cattails from a wetlands area, later called Washoe Lake, to make intricate baskets.

first appeared: 6/9/2002

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