Online Nevada Encyclopedia

Community and Society

Mormon Settlement: Lincoln County

In 1857, afraid that American troops were about to invade Utah, Church of Latter-day Saints leader Brigham Young called for outlying Mormon settlers to return home to Salt Lake City.  He made one exception, allowing a small group of Mormons to find a remote place where church leaders could take refuge if needed.  These scouts moved to the western edge of Utah territory and established Panaca, the first se

Midas

The town of Midas, located in northeast Nevada, existed for roughly the first half of the twentieth century due to mining activity. Today it is a retirement community preserving fond memories of its exciting past. Highly successful mining has recently returned to the region without significant changes to life in the tiny town.

Methodism in Nevada Part II

A Bridge Spanning Two Centuries

Methodism in Nevada Part I

Origins

Mesquite Club

Formed in 1911 as a literary club for women, the Mesquite Club quickly became a force for community improvement in the railroad town of Las Vegas. The name, suggested by an early settler of the area, Helen J. Stewart, emphasized the hardiness and usefulness of a tree native to the area. The women of the club began immediately to enhance the appearance of the raw new town constructed on the Southern Nevada desert. They decided to add trees along the dusty streets, building on Las Vegas' history as a shady oasis for travelers along the Old Spanish Trail.

McWilliams Townsite

In 1902, pioneer rancher Helen J. Stewart hired surveyor J. T. McWilliams to map out her 1,800 acres of ranch land in the Las Vegas Valley so that it could be sold to United States Senator William Clark of Montana, who was building a railroad through the area from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. While surveying the Stewart Ranch, McWilliams noticed that part of a separate eighty-acre tract, owned by the U.S.

McGill

Soon after large copper deposits were discovered in central White Pine County between 1900 and 1902, four towns were established by the companies who owned claims in the area. Of those "company towns," McGill was the largest and most important because it processed ore in a district that would continue to produce copper for over seventy years.

Manhattan

Miner George Nicholl found rich silver deposits in the southern part of the Toquima Range in Nye County during 1866. Only sporadic production occurred there until major new discoveries, assaying at $3000 a ton, were made in April 1905. A rush to the booming mining camp ensued, and by the end of 1905, Manhattan had a population of more than 1000, seventy-five frame buildings, and two newspapers. Although the town was at its peak, the San Francisco earthquake in April 1906 had a tremendous effect on it.

Mackay School of Mines

The 1864 Nevada state constitution called for the founding of a school of mines. The creation of the University of Nevada School of Mines in 1888 makes it one of the oldest in the nation. The institution is a testament to the industry's importance to the state. The name "Mackay" honors Comstock silver baron John Mackay and the philanthropy of his family and especially of his son Clarence. The highly regarded school trained generations of engineers who plied their trade internationally.

Lutheranism in Nevada

Lutheranism in America between 1840 and 1875 was divided into fifty-eight autonomous synods. Many were denominated by their states, such as the Wisconsin Synod, or were identified by the heritage of their membership, such as the Norwegian-Danish Conference. The Missouri Synod, founded in 1847 with a heavily German immigrant membership, was the largest of these groups and the first to establish a presence in California, in 1860.

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