Welcome to Nye County!
Nye County was established in 1864 and named after James W. Nye, who served as the first governor of the Nevada Territory and later as a U.S. Senator from the state. The first county seat was Ione in 1864, followed by Belmont in 1867, and finally by Tonopah in 1905.
The county's first boom came in the early 20th century, when Rhyolite and Tonopah, as well as Goldfield in nearby Esmeralda County were all experiencing mining booms. In 1906, Goldfield had 30,000 residents, Tonopah had nearly 10,000 people, and Rhyolite peaked at about 10,000. All of those cities were linked by the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. After the boom died, Nye County withered.
At 18,159 square miles (47,030 km2), Nye is the largest county by area in the state and the third largest county in the contiguous United States (thus excluding the boroughs of Alaska). The center of population of Nevada is located in Nye County, very near Yucca Mountain.[3] The largest community in Nye County is Pahrump, an unincorporated town. The Nevada Test Site and proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository are located in the southwestern part of the county, and are the focus of a great deal of political and public controversy in the state. The federal government also manages 92 percent of the land in the county. A 1987 attempt to deposit the nuclear waste resulted in the creation of Bullfrog County, Nevada, which was dissolved two years later. The seat of government in Tonopah is 160 miles (260 km) from Pahrump, where about 86 percent of the county's population resides.
National protected areas include Ash Meadow National Wildlife Refuge, Death Valley National Park (part), Humboldt-Toiyable National Forest (part) and Spring Mountain National Recreation Area (part).1
Places in Nye County include Amargosa Valley, Beatty, Carver's, Coaldale, Gabbs, Johnnie, Manhattan, Mercury, Pahrump, Rhyolite (site), Round Mountain, Tonopah (county seat), Tonopah Air Force Station and Warm Springs (site).
Census
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The background tartan in the footer logo is the Nevada State Tartan, adopted in 2001.
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