Panaca, Nevada

Panaca, Nevada
Census-designated place

Main Street in Panaca
Panaca

Location within the state of Nevada

Coordinates: 37°47′28″N 114°23′20″W / 37.79111°N 114.38889°WCoordinates: 37°47′28″N 114°23′20″W / 37.79111°N 114.38889°W
Country United States
State Nevada
County Lincoln
Area
 • Total 3.3 sq mi (8.5 km2)
 • Land 3.3 sq mi (8.5 km2)
 • Water 0 sq mi (0 km2)
Population (2010)
 • Total 963
 • Density 290/sq mi (110/km2)
Time zone Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
 • Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code 89042
Area code(s) 775
FIPS code 32-54200
GNIS feature ID 0847542
Nevada Historical Marker
Reference no. 39

Panaca is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in eastern Lincoln County, Nevada, United States, on State Route 319, about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of U.S. Route 93, near the border with Utah. Its elevation is 4,729 feet (1,441 m) above sea level. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 963.[1]

History

The Panaca Ward Chapel (1867–68) is the oldest building in Lincoln County.
Old Panaca Mercantile, Nevada Historical Marker #93

Panaca was southern Nevada's first permanent settlement, founded as a Mormon colony in 1864. It was originally part of Washington County, Utah, but the congressional redrawing of boundaries in 1866 shifted Panaca into Nevada. It is the only community in Nevada to be "dry" (forbidding the sale of alcoholic beverages), and the only community in Nevada besides Boulder City that prohibits gambling.[2]

Coke ovens here once produced charcoal for the smelters in nearby Bullionville (now a ghost town), but the town's economy is predominantly agricultural.

The name "Panaca" comes from the Southern Paiute word Pan-nuk-ker, which means "metal, money, wealth". William Hamblin, a Mormon missionary to the Paiutes, established the Panacker Ledge (Panaca Claim) silver mine there in 1864.[3]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Panaca CDP has an area of 3.3 square miles (8.5 km2), all of it land.[1] Along Nevada State Route 319 it is 19 miles (31 km) east to the Utah state line and from there another 60 miles (97 km) east to Cedar City, Utah. West from Panaca it is 1.0 mile (1.6 km) to U.S. Route 93, at which point it is 11 miles (18 km) north to Pioche and 14 miles (23 km) south to Caliente.

Attractions

Panaca is near Cathedral Gorge State Park.

The following Nevada Historical Markers have been placed in Panaca:[4]

Panaca celebrates Pioneer Day on the Saturday closest to July 24. Events include a 6 a.m. cannon firing, games and races, a parade, art displays, and a community dinner. This coincides with the Utah holiday commemorating the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Panaca CDP, Nevada". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Panaca". Travel Nevada. Nevada Commission on Tourism. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  3. ↑ "The town of Panaca". LincolnCountyNevada.com. Lincoln Communities Action Team. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  4. ↑ "Lincoln County, Nevada". Historical Markers. Nevada State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  5. ↑ Dave Maxwell (August 5, 2013). "Pioneer Days: Panaca celebrates heritage". Lincoln County Record. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  6. ↑ Velotta, Richard N. (July 23, 2014). "Panaca shares sesquicentennial with Nevada". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2014-07-23.

Further reading

  • Arrington, Leonard J.; Jensen, Richard L. (Winter 1975). "Panaca: Mormon Outpost among the Mining Camps". Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 18 (4): 207–216.
  • Brooks, Juanita (Spring 1971). "A Place of Refuge". Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 14 (1): 13–24.
  • Earl, Phillip I. (1986). "Panaca: Meadow Valley Mormon Outpost". This Was Nevada. Nevada Historical Society. OCLC 144709060.
  • Edwards, Elbert B. (Summer 1971). "The Panaca Co-Op--A Way of Life". Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 14 (2): 58–61.
  • Hall, Stephen L. (August 2004). Utah in Nevada: Expected and Aberrant Landscapes in the Mormon Village of Panaca, Nevada (M.S.). University of Nevada, Reno.
  • Panaca Centennial Book Committee; Lee, Ruth; Wadsworth, Sylvia, eds. (1966). A Century in Meadow Valley, 1864-1964. Salt Lake City: Deseret News.
  • Vanderbeek, Helen Free (1983). George Allen Wadsworth: Pilley to Panaca. Baltimore: Gateway Press. LCCN 83080905.
  • Townley, John M. (1973). Conquered Provinces: Nevada Moves Southeast, 1864-1871. Charles Redd Monographs in Western History 2. Provo, UT: BYU Press. ISBN 0842504176.

External links

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