Nevada

Name: Nevada State Prison
Brand: Jennifer E. Riddle
SKU: 9780738585451
Price: 17.49 USD
Availability: InStock

Overwhelmed by the spectacle of Las Vegas, the scope of the Hoover Dam or the import of the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, the quieter pieces of Nevada history often go unnoticed. Paying attention to the drama seems appropriate in a place with “Battle Born” embroidered into its flag. But it is okay to take a break and read about the Virginia and Truckee Railroad or revisit Reno’s heyday before diving back into an account of Area 51 or the Folies Bergere. Enjoy the full range of the Silver State’s heritage in this catalogue of Nevada history books.

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Nevada State Prison

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Mills Along the Carson River

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The Boy Nevada Killed: Floyd Loveless and the Juvenile Capital Punishment Debate

$16.99

Hidden History of Elko County

$16.99

Reno's Heyday

$16.99

Building Nevada's Highways

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Dayton

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Around Boulder City

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Hidden History of Elko County

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Boulder City, Nevada

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Sparks

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Henderson

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Nevada's Lost City

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Black Rock Desert

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Elko County

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Mesquite and the Virgin Valley

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The Chinese in Nevada

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Reno's Riverwalk District

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Ghosts of Goldfield and Tonopah

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The Curious Life of Nevada's LaVere Redfield: The Silver Dollar King

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Nevada State Prison

9780738585451

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

A bloody palm print, footprints of monster men, the nation's first legal lethal gas chamber--all of this and more are at the heart of the Nevada State Prison story. Founded in 1862, before Nevada was "battle born," the prison is the oldest continuously operated penal facility in the state. Over its 150-year history, the prison has been home to some of Nevada's most notorious criminals as well as some of the state's stranger events. Fossilized footprints of a "giant race of man" were found buried deep within the prison quarry. The prints gave rise to the infamous Homo Nevadensis, a supposed lost branch of the human evolutionary tree. On the more macabre side, the prison hosted the nation's first state-sanctioned execution by lethal gas. While dutifully and vigilantly serving its penal function, the Nevada State Prison has periodically garnered international attention and amassed a history worthy of study.

Mills Along the Carson River

9781467133272

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Nestled along the picturesque Carson River in the state of Nevada were the quartz mills that crushed and extracted the values from the Comstock ore. These mills were built starting in 1859, when gold and silver were discovered on the Comstock, with the last mill being demolished around the 1920s. Mills were huge plants, in many cases crushing tons of ore a day, sometimes seven days a week. To support these mills, the towns of Empire and Dayton were established to house workers and provide needed supplies. Remnants of these mills have all but disappeared, and in a few more years, there will be nothing to remind people of the wealth these establishments created for individuals, the state of Nevada, and the United States.

Building Nevada's Highways

9781467134064

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Roads are rarely given a second thought yet are indispensable to life. Admittedly, a book dedicated to roadways sounds a bit dry. But behind every double-diamond interchange, every pork chop island, and every type of asphalt is a fascinating history of the traveling public. This book reveals the hidden history of building the Silver State's highways since 1917. The next time you take a road trip across Nevada on the Lincoln Highway (US 50) or the Victory Highway (US 40) or follow a rutted road to a once-booming ghost town think of the ingenious and industrious men and women, surveyors, engineers, chemists, and yes, even the teams of mules that built the roads we still travel today.

Dayton

9781467133265

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Dayton's history begins with Nevada's first gold discovery in July 1849. It started with a California-bound pack train, led by trail guide Abner Blackburn, setting up camp at the mouth of a canyon that drained into the Carson River. While waiting for the snow to melt in the Sierra, Blackburn went prospecting and dug gold from the creek bed. The news of his discovery spread, and prospectors rushed to the site they called Gold Cañon--today's Dayton. In May 1851, diarist Lucena Pfuffer Parsons, traveling with a wagon train, camped at the site and reported about 200 miners living in the canyon. She noted that they were finding enough gold to trade for supplies. In 1859, after working their way up the canyon, miners discovered a large silver and gold deposit known as the Comstock Lode. This discovery led Nevada to statehood in 1864.

Around Boulder City

9780738558769

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The original planners of Boulder City, Nevada, did not expect that the community of workers and engineers would outlast the construction of the great Hoover Dam. The subsequent years challenged this assumption, however, as Boulder City continued to grow and thrive even after the dam was completed and the waters of the Colorado River were harnessed. As more families took road trips to visit the dam and other southwestern attractions, Boulder City became a tourism hub. Shops, restaurants, and hotels, including the famous Boulder Dam Hotel, were built, and even more visitors flocked to the nearby Lake Mead National Recreation Area after its establishment in 1964. Elton M. Garrett aptly described the city in the masthead of his newspaper, the Boulder Dam Challenge, in 1936: "Boulder City Carries On With Spirit With Which Boulder Dam Challenged Rio Colorado."

Hidden History of Elko County

9781626199958

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Elko County in Nevada's remote northeastern corner has long attracted independent, spirited individuals determined to carve out lives of their own. Born to former slaves, Henry Harris worked his way from John Sparks's house hand to one of the most respected buckaroos in the region. Pete Itcaina, the unlikely millionaire, once bought a local bar on the spot just to fire the bartender, who mistook Itcaina for a bum and refused to serve him. The beautiful cattle rustler Susie Raper charmed her way out of numerous arrests and trials, despite her trail of dead husbands. Local author Claudia Wines excavates sagas buried in the dust and probes conventional wisdom surrounding local legend.

Boulder City, Nevada

9780738507705

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The Boulder Canyon Project Act, authorized by Congress in 1928, designated funds for the construction of the Hoover Dam. This monumental undertaking affected the interests of seven states and is considered by many to be the most significant American public works project of the 20th century. A project of this scope required thousands of workers, and to meet their needs, the Bureau of Reclamation planned the town of Boulder City, Nevada. Today, the planning of Boulder City is recognized as a significant influence on modern city planning. To a country shaken to its roots by the tumultuous effects of the Great Depression, the Hoover Dam project provided two essentials that were in short supply: work and housing. With the planned community of Boulder City, there was yet another benefit--an oasis in the desert, a city with character and charm. From the hot, barren, cactus-covered land rose green lawns and gardens, workers and their families created a new sense of community, culled from their hard work and the massive dam that was rising before their eyes.

Sparks

9781467126489

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

In the late 1800s, the area now known as Sparks consisted of ranches and farms. It was not until the early 1900s that Sparks would become the sixth-largest city in Nevada, almost overnight. E.H. Harriman moved the Salt Lake Division of the Southern Pacific Railroad from Wadsworth to swampland four miles east of Reno, and that area would become Sparks. The railroad was the largest and most reliable employer for 54 years, before leaving in 1957. Some railroad employees were transferred and reassigned to jobs outside of Sparks, but many chose to stay. Employment was found in Nevada's thriving hospitality industry, including John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino. Sparks became a major distribution center for national companies like S.S. Kresge and Pacific Freeport, and many manufacturing companies opened after Nevada passed the right-to-work law in 1951. Sparks is now the fifth-largest city in Nevada.

Henderson

9780738520872

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The year 2003 marks the 50th anniversary of the
incorporation of the City of Henderson. This
anniversary is even more of a milestone given the fact that due to Henderson's origins, it was never expected to remain a populated area, let alone grow into the second largest city in Nevada today. From the early 1900s there had been some small scale mining and the occasional ranch house, but the city was really founded on the basis of communities which provided housing for workers on two of the largest federal projects in the West: Boulder (later Hoover) Dam and the wartime Basic Magnesium Inc. Like many boomtowns before it, Henderson seemed likely to fade away after the federal government halted magnesium production there in 1944. Yet the determination of local residents saved the city, and since its incorporation in 1953, growth has exceeded the expectations of even its most optimistic founders.
Documented through historical photographs is the
construction of the BMI plant, the experience of
working there in the war years, living in the community that was built to support the plant (Camp Anderson, Basic Townsite, Victory Village, and Carver Park for African American workers), and the transformation of this temporary federal venture into a burgeoning city.

Nevada's Lost City

9780738593272

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Nevada's Lost City was buried under the sands of the Mojave Desert until its existence was reported to Gov. James Scrugham by brothers John and Fay Perkins from Overton, Nevada. Excavations of the archaeological ruins began in 1924, when archaeologist Mark Raymond Harrington identified the ruins as Ancestral Puebloan (more commonly known as Anasazi), a significant archaeological discovery in Southwestern archaeology. Harrington named the world-famous sites Pueblo Grande de Nevada, but the media dubbed them the Lost City, and the name stuck. Excavation continued into the 1930s, when the National Park Service took over the excavation of the sites using young men employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The CCC boys not only helped to excavate but they also built the Lost City Museum, an institution devoted to highlighting the archaeological wonders of the Lost City.

Black Rock Desert

9781467130202

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The Black Rock Desert, located in northwestern Nevada, has been the site of many human activities, from ancient hunters to the arrival of the pioneers to present-day motion pictures, land-speed records, commercial photography, and a weeklong art festival. This book focuses on the art history of the Black Rock Desert playa up until 1990, laying the groundwork for the larger, participatory art events of recent history. Events include art from the Lassen Trail; The Winning of Barbara Worth, starring Gary Cooper, in 1926; and a wild horse roundup as documented by Gus Bundy. Also included are recent works of art such as Doobie Lane and a croquet match in which trucks were used as mallets. Historical images feature the towns of Sulphur and Gerlach, nearby ranches, and the Empire gypsum mine.

Elko County

9780738558868

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Elko County, located in the northeast corner of Nevada, is the fourth largest county in the continental United States. Miles and miles of sagebrush give way to scenic spots, such as Lamoille Canyon and the Ruby Mountains, and locals are proud of this ruggedly beautiful land. Although the county's area is vast, there are only 2.5 people per square mile, and almost 90 percent of the land is owned by the federal government. The major towns in Elko County were established in the late 1860s, when the railroad arrived and brought ranching and mining jobs to the area. In the 1930s, Elko County began attracting big-name entertainment and also became a destination for gaming, and those traditions continue today. With its rich heritage and unique, high-desert landscapes, Elko County is considered one of the last frontiers of the Old West.

Mesquite and the Virgin Valley

9780738580722

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

The lower Virgin River basin is located about 10 miles south of the border junction between what is now Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. Early explorers told of blistering heat, disease-carrying insects, and scarce, evil-tasting water. But in 1877, the valley offered a haven to a small group of Mormon families who sought to live and practice their religious convictions, settling in Bunkerville on the south side of the Virgin River. On the north side, the struggle to establish Mesquite started in 1880. The third attempt in 1894 was successful after years of merciless floods. Residents have survived a hostile environment, geographic isolation, political gerrymandering, and in the middle of the last century, dangerous radiation fallout from atomic testing. Deep sand roads have given way to a bustling interstate highway, and the area has become a golf and gaming destination. After incorporation in 1984, Mesquite experienced a boom and has been named the fastest growing city of its size in the United States.

The Chinese in Nevada

9780738574943

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

When the Chinese were asked to help dig irrigation ditches in the 1850s in Genoa and Dayton, Nevada, no one imagined that they would constitute almost nine percent of the state's population by 1880. Although many were attracted by mining prospects, the ability to own land, and work in railroad construction projects, they held a wide variety of jobs, including ranching, sheepherding, logging, medicine, merchandising, and gaming. Their restaurants and laundries could be found throughout the state. The children became acculturated because the state did not require them to attend segregated schools. Federal and state anti-Chinese legislation had a devastating effect upon the population after 1890, but the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943 and other immigration laws brought newcomers who added to the growth of Chinese Americans. The postwar period saw new opportunities opening up that allowed their leaders to be recognized for their contributions to their community and the state.

Reno's Riverwalk District

9780738596716

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During the mid-1800s, Charles Fuller established the first bridge to cross the Truckee River in Reno. Shortly after, settlers took residence, built a vibrant community, and called the banks of the Truckee River home. From the booming Comstock Lode and the expansion of the Transcontinental Railroad, Reno was a town of growth. By the mid-1900s, Reno showcased some of the state's most historic structures and had become known as the divorce capital of the country. The area of Reno now recognized as the Riverwalk District faced reckless floods, storms, and devastating fires, and yet its rich history and culture has prevailed for more than 98 years.

Ghosts of Goldfield and Tonopah

9781626199453

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Echoes of prospectors, forlorn widows and politicians linger in the streets and historic remnants of Nevada's former boomtowns. In the throes of early financial disaster, the Silver State had little to entice newcomers or discourage residents from leaving. Jim Butler's silver discovery at Tonopah changed everything. With a subsequent gold discovery near Goldfield, the rush was on, and from these burgeoning mines, Nevada's early leaders amassed their wealth and power. Paranormal historian Janice Oberding shares firsthand accounts of ghostly encounters in the Goldfield and Mizpah Hotels and uncovers the history behind the mysterious cowboy ghost, the haggard hitchhiker and other eerie local tales.

The Curious Life of Nevada's LaVere Redfield: The Silver Dollar King

9781626197046

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LaVere Redfield was a prolific hoarder. When he died in 1974, his estate was estimated at more than $70 million. Executors found 680 bags of silver coins and 407,000 Morgan and Peace silver dollars in his Reno mansion. A local Reno legend, Redfield gambled regularly in Virginia Street casinos. He survived robbery and burglaries of his home, which contained false walls to store millions of silver dollars. Hating banks and paper money, as well as big government, Redfield opted to serve a prison term for income tax evasion rather than pay his debts from his ample fortune. Join author Jack Harpster for this first book-length study of this unconventional man behind the folklore and the myth.