History UsefulNotes / Nevada

Nevada's situation changed, however, in the early 20th century. The state had very loose laws regarding various vices like alcohol and gambling, which made it an attractive destination for anyone involved in those businesses; it was the first state in the Union to establish no-fault divorce, leading to the now-mostly-ForgottenTrope DivorceInReno, and remains the only state with fully legalized [[TheOldestProfession prostitution]].[[note]]Though, despite popular belief, it is ''not'' legal in Clark County (where Vegas is), ''or'' in Washoe County (where Reno is). It's also illegal in the state capital of Carson City and a couple of rural counties.[[/note]] Over the decades, Las Vegas grew from a tiny mining town to an entertainment powerhouse, and the city is still the center of the American gambling industry and the live entertainment that sprung up around it -- it's a main center of magic, burlesque, circuses, you name it. The state's population exploded in response, reaching one million by the late '80s and now just over three million -- most of whom are transplants from other states, as only 25% of Nevadans were born there. Today, tourism catering to those looking to indulge in the state's libertarian philosophy is by far Nevada's largest industry.[[note]]Interestingly, two communities in Nevada ''prohibit'' gambling, one of which also prohibits alcohol sales. Panaca, a small unincorporated town about 2½ hours' drive north of Vegas, was founded by UsefulNotes/{{Mormon|ism}} settlers and is still dominated by that religion's adherents; both alcohol sales and gambling are banned there. Boulder City was founded by the federal government to [[CompanyTown house workers]] on the Hoover Dam project, and the feds banned both alcohol and gambling. The feds relinquished control of the city in 1960, but it remained dry until 1969. Gambling is still prohibited (one casino has a Boulder City address and another a Boulder City telephone number, but both are outside the city limits).[[/note]]

Nevada's situation changed, however, in the early 20th century. The state had very loose laws regarding various vices like alcohol and gambling, which made it an attractive destination for anyone involved in those businesses; it was the first state in the Union to establish no-fault divorce, leading to the now-mostly-ForgottenTrope DivorceInReno, and remains the only state with fully legalized [[TheOldestProfession prostitution]].[[note]]Though, despite popular belief, it is ''not'' legal in Clark County (where Vegas is), ''or'' in Washoe County (where Reno is). It's also illegal in the state capital of Carson City and a couple of rural counties.[[/note]] Over the decades, Las Vegas grew from a tiny mining town to an entertainment powerhouse, and the city is still the center of the American gambling industry and the live entertainment that sprung up around it -- it's a main center of magic, burlesque, circuses, you name it. The state's population exploded in response, reaching one million by the late '80s and now just over three million -- most of whom are transplants from other states, as only 25% of Nevadans were born there. Today, tourism catering to those looking to indulge in the state's libertarian philosophy is by far Nevada's largest industry.[[note]]Interestingly, two communities in Nevada ''prohibit'' gambling, one of which also prohibits alcohol sales. Panaca, a small unincorporated town about 2½ hours' drive north of Vegas, was founded by Mormon settlers and is still dominated by that religion's adherents; both alcohol sales and gambling are banned there. Boulder City was founded by the federal government to [[CompanyTown house workers]] on the Hoover Dam project, and the feds banned both alcohol and gambling. The feds relinquished control of the city in 1960, but it remained dry until 1969. Gambling is still prohibited (one casino has a Boulder City address and another a Boulder City telephone number, but both are outside the city limits).[[/note]]

Besides mining and tourism, the other main element of Nevada's economy is all that previously mentioned federal land, most of which is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management and caters to tourists more interested in nature than casinos. A good chunk of it, however, is military land, including the famed {{Area 51}} that supposedly holds all the secret alien spacecraft captured by the Air Force or whatever. (Seriously, though, it's a heavily guarded spy plane testing site. Don't try and storm it.) The vast expanses of virtually empty desert and its historically low population made it an attractive location for the military to conduct tests far from prying eyes and without much risk to the locals. The federal government, including the military, is one of Nevada's largest employers and federal employees make up a significant portion of in-movers.

Nevada's situation changed, however, in the early 20th century. The state had very loose laws regarding various vices like alcohol and gambling, which made it an attractive destination for anyone involved in those businesses; it was the first state in the Union to establish no-fault divorce, leading to the now-mostly-ForgottenTrope DivorceInReno, and remains the only state with fully legalized [[TheOldestProfession prostitution]].[[note]]Though, despite popular belief, it is ''not'' legal in Clark County (where Vegas is), ''or'' in Washoe County (where Reno is). It's also illegal in the state capital of Carson City and a couple of rural counties.[[/note]] Over the decades, Las Vegas grew from a tiny mining town to an entertainment powerhouse, and the city is still the center of the American gambling industry and the live entertainment that sprung up around it -- it's a main center of magic, burlesque, circuses, you name it. The state's population exploded in response, reaching one million by the late '80s and now just over three million -- most of whom are transplants from other states, as only 25% of Nevadans were born there. Today, tourism catering to those looking to indulge in the state's libertarian philosophy is by far Nevada's largest industry.[[note]]Interestingly, two communities in Nevada ''prohibit'' gambling, one of which also prohibits alcohol sales. Panaca, a small unincorporated town about 2½ hours' drive north of Vegas, was founded by Mormon settlers and is still dominated by that religion's adherents; both alcohol sales and gambling are banned there. Boulder City was founded by the federal government to [[CompanyTown house workers]] on the Hoover Dam project, and the feds banned both alcohol and gambling. The feds relinquished control of the city in 1959, but it remained dry until 1969. Gambling is still prohibited (two casinos do have Boulder City addresses, but are outside the city limits).[[/note]]

Nevada's situation changed, however, in the early 20th century. The state had very loose laws regarding various vices like alcohol and gambling, which made it an attractive destination for anyone involved in those businesses; it was the first state in the Union to establish no-fault divorce, leading to the now-mostly-ForgottenTrope DivorceInReno, and remains the only state with fully legalized [[TheOldestProfession prostitution]][[note]]though, despite popular belief, it is ''not'' legal in Clark County (where Vegas is) ''or'' in Washoe County (where Reno is)[[/note]]. Over the decades, Las Vegas grew from a tiny mining town to an entertainment powerhouse, and the city is still the center of the American gambling industry and the live entertainment that sprung up around it -- it's a main center of magic, burlesque, circuses, you name it. The state's population exploded in response, reaching one million by the late '80s and now just over three million -- most of whom are transplants from other states, as only 25% of Nevadans were born there. Today, tourism catering to those looking to indulge in the state's libertarian philosophy is by far Nevada's largest industry.

Nevada (nuh-''VAD''[[note]]rhymes with "mad"[[/note]]-uh, from Spanish ''nevada'' meaning "snow-capped mountain") -- nicknamed the "Battle-born State" after its origins in the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar, the "Sagebrush State" after one of its most common plants, and the "Silver State" reflecting its mining heritage -- traces its origins back to the western regions of the UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} Territory, carved away because of the discovery of gold and silver deposits that the feds wanted more direct control over. For most of its history, mining, especially of silver, was Nevada's main industry, and despite developments over the course of the 20th century it remains a considerable part of the state's economy. Around 3/4ths of its population lives in the UsefulNotes/LasVegas metro area at the very southern tip of the state, wedged between the UsefulNotes/{{California}} and UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} borders, with most of the rest living around Reno near the border with California. In addition to California, Arizona, and Utah, the state also borders UsefulNotes/{{Idaho}} and UsefulNotes/{{Oregon}} to the north. More than 80% of Nevadan land is owned by the federal government, the highest percentage of any state.[[note]]The highest percentage of government-owned land belongs to Alaska, at almost 90%. However, the federal share is only a hair over 60%; the state government owns nearly 30%. As an aside, the state with the highest percentage of state-owned land? ''UsefulNotes/{{New York|State}}'', where the state owns over 36% of all land. (Less than 0.3% of that state is federally owned.)[[/note]] The state capital of Carson City is also one of a very small number of "independent cities" in the United States—i.e., cities that are not part of any county.[[note]]To be exact, 41—but 38 of those are in UsefulNotes/{{Virginia}}, which has unique state laws regarding cities. The other two are UsefulNotes/{{Baltimore}} and UsefulNotes/StLouis. Independent cities are distinct from "consolidated city–counties", where both the city and county nominally exist but share the same borders; examples of ''those'' include but are not limited to UsefulNotes/{{Denver}}, UsefulNotes/NewOrleans, UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}, and UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco.[[/note]]

Nevada (nuh-''VAD''[[note]]rhymes with "mad"[[/note]]-uh, from Spanish ''nevada'' meaning "snow-capped mountain") -- nicknamed the "Battle-born State" after its origins in the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar, the "Sagebrush State" after one of its most common plants, and the "Silver State" reflecting its mining heritage -- traces its origins back to the western regions of the UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} Territory, carved away because of the discovery of gold and silver deposits that the feds wanted more direct control over. For most of its history, mining, especially of silver, was Nevada's main industry, and despite developments over the course of the 20th century it remains a considerable part of the state's economy. Around 3/4ths of its population lives in the UsefulNotes/LasVegas metro area at the very southern tip of the state, wedged between the UsefulNotes/{{California}} and UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} borders, with most of the rest living around Reno near the border with California. In addition to California, Arizona, and Utah, the state also borders UsefulNotes/{{Idaho}} and UsefulNotes/{{Oregon}} to the north. More than 80% of Nevadan land is owned by the federal government, the highest percentage of any state.[[note]]The highest percentage of government-owned land belongs to Alaska, at almost 90%. However, the federal share is only a hair over 60%; the state government owns nearly 30%. As an aside, the state with the highest percentage of state-owned land? ''{{New York|State}}'', where the state owns over 36% of all land. (Less than 0.3% of that state is federally owned.)[[/note]] The state capital of Carson City is also one of a very small number of "independent cities" in the United States—i.e., cities that are not part of any county.[[note]]To be exact, 41—but 38 of those are in UsefulNotes/{{Virginia}}, which has unique state laws regarding cities. The other two are UsefulNotes/{{Baltimore}} and UsefulNotes/StLouis. Independent cities are distinct from "consolidated city–counties", where both the city and county nominally exist but share the same borders; examples of ''those'' include but are not limited to UsefulNotes/{{Denver}}, UsefulNotes/NewOrleans, UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}, and UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco.[[/note]]

Nevada has an interesting history. It holds the distinction of being the least-populous state in the history of the United States, achieving statehood in 1864 with a population of less than 12,000 -- less than 1/5th of the prescribed minimum of 60,000 residents for new states. At the time, the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar was raging, and the Republican-controlled Congress was worried about Abraham Lincoln's chances in the upcoming presidential election; many Americans simply wanted an end to the fighting and were willing to make terms with the Confederates to make that happen. Nevada's statehood was rushed to shore up Lincoln's electoral vote share, as the state's mining-dominated economy leaned its politics heavily toward the Republican party. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot As it turned out, Lincoln won the election handily and didn't need Nevada's 3 electoral votes, but statehood can't be revoked!]] Nevada retained the distinction of being last in population for almost 100 years. In the 1940 census, it recorded a population of just over 110,000, less than half of the next-least-populous, UsefulNotes/{{Wyoming}}, and fewer people than New Bedford, UsefulNotes/{{Massachusetts}}, a town you've never heard of[[note]]unless you're from there, in which case, sorry[[/note]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Vegas is down at the bottom, since that's probably what most of you were searching for anyway.[[/note]]