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Nye County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,946. Its county seat is Tonopah. At , Nye is Nevada's largest county by area and the third-largest county in the contiguous United States, behind Coconino County of Arizona and San Bernardino County of California. Nye County comprises the Pahrump Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Las Vegas-Henderson Combined Statistical Area. In 2010, Nevada's center of population was in southern Nye County, near Yucca Mountain. The Nevada Test Site and proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository are in southwestern Nye County, and are the focus of a great deal of controversy. The federal government manages 92% of the county's land. A 1987 attempt to stop the nuclear waste site resulted in the creation of Bullfrog County, Nevada, which was dissolved two years later. The county has several environmentally sensitive areas, including Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the White River Valley, several Great Basin sky islands and part of Death Valley National Park. Visitors to Death Valley often stay at Beatty or Amargosa Valley. Nye County is one of 10 Nevada counties where prostitution is legal. The county has no incorporated cities. The seat of government in Tonopah is from Pahrump, where about 86% of the county's population resides.
[edit] History
Nye County was established during the American Civil War in 1864 and named after James W. Nye, the first governor of the Nevada Territory and later a U.S. Senator after it was admitted as a state. The first county seat was Ione in 1864, followed by Belmont in 1867, and finally 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, had gold and silver mining booms. In 1906, Goldfield had 30,000 residents, Tonopah nearly 10,000, and Rhyolite peaked at about 10,000. These cities were linked by the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. After the boom died, Nye County withered. By 1910, the population had plummeted to about 7,500 before sinking to near 3,000 in the middle of the century. With development at the military test site and increasing employment and resources the population stabilized. After the 1990s, when Pahrump became a bedroom community for Las Vegas, it had high rates of population growth. There have periodically been discussions of moving the county seat to Pahrump, or splitting off the southern portion of the county, but neither of these ideas appears to have sufficient support in the county or state government. From 1987 to 1989, Bullfrog County, Nevada, was split off from Nye County to form a separate political region. Its population was zero; its creation was an attempt to stop a nuclear waste storage facility from being built in the region. [edit] Timeline
[edit] Population History
[edit] CemeteriesCemeteries of Nye County, Nevada, United States [edit] Research Tips[edit] External links
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