current issue
Tidbits

Nevada Trivia & Tidbits - Page 2

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

<< view another state's trivia

—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
The Western Folklife Center was founded in 1980 to celebrate the everyday traditions of the people who live and work in the American West, and to encourage an appreciation of the West’s cultural diversity. Along with exhibitions and special events, it produces programs for public radio and television, along with CDs and DVDs. Every January, the center also hosts the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, attracting some 8,000 visitors.
first appeared: 1/11/2009
—In 1982, Barbara Vucanovich of Reno became the first woman elected to represent Nevada in the U.S. Congress. Elected in the state’s Second Congressional District, she went on to serve seven consecutive terms.
first appeared: 12/29/2008
—ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition TV show arrived in Stagecoach, in Lyon County (pop. 34,501), earlier this year to build a new home and youth recreation center for the Steve and Mary Boettcher family, whose house and “Soul’d Out” Ministries youth center comprised a small mobile home and a two-car garage. Thanks to the show and community support, the Boettchers now serve even more young people.
first appeared: 11/30/2008
—At 1,527 feet high, the BREN Tower on the Nevada Test Site, located near Indian Springs (pop. 1,302), is taller than the Empire State Building. Built in 1962 on Yucca Flat and moved in 1966 to Jackass Flats, the steel structure—which is used in radiation measurement experiments—employs 5.5 miles of cables to help it withstand 120 mph winds.
first appeared: 11/16/2008
—Built in the 1860s, the Bowers Mansion, near Carson City (pop. 52,457), was home to Sandy and Eilley Bowers, who were among the first Comstock millionaires. Unfortunately, Eilley struggled financially after Sandy’s death and lost the property, which became a resort between 1903 and 1946. The mansion was restored in 1967 and now is open seasonally for public tours.
first appeared: 11/2/2008
—In 1991, when staff at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas noticed that disabled customers had difficulty getting out of their cars and into the chapel, they responded by creating a drive-through ceremony. What began as a simple window today is a “Tunnel of Love” drive-through wedding chapel with a ceiling that features cherubs and starlights.
first appeared: 10/19/2008
—Officially opened in 2005, the Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas documents the history and technological contributions of the nearby Nevada Test Site, where nuclear weapons testing took place between 1951 and 1992. The 8,000-square-foot facility, which was one of the nation’s first museums to become a Smithsonian Institution affiliate, includes artifacts from the atomic blast site, newsreels and high-tech exhibits.
first appeared: 10/5/2008
—In March, Tonopah (pop. 2,627) celebrated the centenary of automobile racer George Schuster’s arrival in their community in his car, a 1907 Thomas Flyer. Schuster was representing the United States in the 1908 New York to Paris Great Automobile Race, and went on to win the race against competitors from France, Germany and Italy. A mural on Tonopah’s downtown Mizpah Annex building commemorates the event.
first appeared: 9/21/2008
George Schuster’s 1907 Thomas Flyer now is in the collection of the National Automobile Museum in Reno. Museum founder William Harrah bought the car in 1964 for his personal auto collection after reading a Reader’s Digest article about Schuster, who traveled to Reno to verify that the vehicle was the one that won the race.
first appeared: 9/21/2008
—Baseball player Shawn Estes graduated in 1991 from Douglas High School in Minden (pop. 2,836), where he pitched four no-hitters and was named Nevada High School Player of the Year. One of his best major league seasons was 1997, when his pitching helped the San Francisco Giants reach post-season competition and he was named to the National League All-Star team.
first appeared: 9/7/2008
—Three large charcoal ovens resembling stone beehives were built in the 1870s near Pioche in Lincoln County (pop. 4,165) to burn local juniper and pinon logs to create charcoal, which was then used as fuel in a nearby ore smelter. The ovens were located in the community of Bristol Well, now a ghost town containing a few stone ruins and the ovens.
first appeared: 8/24/2008
—The Pyramid Lake Scenic Byway, which courses for more than 30 miles between Sutcliffe (pop. 281) and Wadsworth (pop. 881), is the first National Scenic Byway located entirely on tribal reservation land—that of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. The lake itself, with colors from green to turquoise to deep blue, is a stopover for migrating waterfowl.
first appeared: 8/10/2008
—The town of Tonopah (pop. 2,627) opened a “green” visitors center along U.S. Highway 95 last October that uses solar and wind energy to power the facility. Inside the small building, exhibits show visitors how much energy is being generated, and how it is converted into electricity to power lights and appliances.
first appeared: 7/27/2008
—The state’s record brown trout was caught at Cave Lake State Park near Ely (pop. 4,041) in 1984. Dennis Mangum reeled in the fish that weighed 27 pounds, 5 ounces, and measured 33 inches in length.
first appeared: 6/29/2008
—Completed in 1953, the Davis Dam on the Colorado River, north of Laughlin (pop. 7,076), created 67-mile-long Lake Mohave. The dam, which was named for Arthur Powell Davis, U.S. director of Reclamation from 1914 to 1932, stands 200 feet high, and helps to manage water releases from Hoover Dam.
first appeared: 6/15/2008
—Built in 1923 at a cost of $83,600, the Union Pacific Railroad Depot in Caliente (pop. 1,123) replaced an earlier structure destroyed by fire. The depot, which was designed by Los Angeles architects John and Donald Parkinson, features two stories in a Mission style, and originally included a restaurant and 50-room hotel. It now houses government offices and a civic center.
first appeared: 6/1/2008
—Pam Buckner of Reno won the Women’s International Bowling Congress Queens Tournament in 1976. Buckner, who is credited as the first woman to bowl two consecutive 300 games, is a member of both the U.S. Bowling Congress Hall of Fame and the Athletic Hall of Fame at Chico State University in Chico, Calif. (pop. 59,954).
first appeared: 5/18/2008
—The two-story, brick-fronted Eureka Opera House in Eureka, located in Eureka County (pop. 1,651), was built over the site where, in 1879, the Odd Fellows Hall burned down. The opera house opened on New Year’s Eve 1880 for a costume ball and added movies to its offerings in 1915. The building retains many original features, including its horseshoe balcony.
first appeared: 5/4/2008
—Built in 1861 as the head office of the Chollar Gold & Silver Mining Co., the Chollar Mansion in Virginia City now offers bed and breakfast accommodations and features some original fixtures, including a 164-square-foot arched vault that once stored gold bullion and a paymaster’s booth at which miners drew their pay each month.
first appeared: 3/9/2008
jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18
Newsletter Sign Up
USERNAME

PASSWORD

newspaper partner login   create account
RECIPE SEARCH
SITE SEARCH

Three Rivers
share ad

Publishing Group of America Logo