Nye County, Nevada Photograph Collection
The Nye County, Nevada Photograph Collection contains photographs from Nye County, Nevada from 1880 to 1990. The collection includes a wide variety of photographs that document the activities, landmarks, geographical features, towns, ranches, and families of Nye County. The collection covers the areas of Amargosa Valley, Ash Meadows, Beatty, Duckwater, Gabbs, Goldfield, Kawich Mountains, Manhattan, Pahrump, Round Mountain, Rhyolite, Smoky Valley, Springdale, Tecopa, Tonopah, and Twin Springs. The activities documented include mining, prospecting, herding animals, schooling, ranching, building construction, railroad construction, and hunting and fishing.
Nye County is the largest county in Nevada and the third largest in the contiguous United States. It was established in 1864 and named after James W. Nye, who served as Nevada’s first governor. Mining booms in Rhyolite, Nevada and Tonopah, Nevada in the early-twentieth century bolstered Nye County’s population and economy, but after the booms receded so too did Nye County’s population.
Topics: Agriculture Mining Railroads