Las Vegas:

9780738524160

$24.99

Whether known as "The Entertainment Capital of the World" or Sin City, Glitter Gulch or even "Lost Wages" Nevada, the dazzling city of Las Vegas has undergone incredible transformation-from ancient watering hole to Mormon fort, from whistle stop to mob-run profit center-to become the fastest-growing urban community in the nation. Home to nearly 1.5 million residents, a melting pot of races and cultures, this great metropolis boasts a thrilling history of vices and virtues but, above all, a steadfast and uncompromising spirit.

Austin

9780738574479

$24.99

The rural town of Austin is located in the geographic center of Nevada, in the heart of the Great Basin Desert. In 1862, a wrangler found silver ore there while cutting firewood for a nearby Overland Stage station. Some of it assayed in richer than ore from the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, causing a rush to Pony Canyon, where the area exploded to a population of 10,000. The town of Austin was located and quickly became the mining, milling, and commercial hub for central Nevada. Its future looked assured, but like most mining camps of the time, Austin quickly settled in for a long--although occasionally prosperous--decline. Today located on US 50, the loneliest highway in America, Austin has a population of around 300. Because of the town's isolation, many of the original buildings are still in active use, as they were 140 years ago. Although the mines are long silent, Austin continues to live on.

Nevada Northern Railway

9780738574752

$24.99

The Nevada Northern Railway is the sole survivor from a grand era when railroads served mines throughout the state. Built in 1905-1906 to develop the incredible copper deposits of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company in White Pine County, it was--and still is--a workaday railroad. Although its primary purpose was to haul ore, it eventually served the community with a daily passenger train between East Ely and Cobre until 1941. Over 4.5 million people rode the trains, and a mountain of copper ore was moved. In 1983, the Nevada Northern Railway ceased operating, and two years later the entire ore line, including the railroad's yard and shop facilities in East Ely, was donated to the White Pine Historical Railroad Foundation that now operates the railway as a museum. Instead of relics in glass cases or repainted old equipment on static display, the museum preserves a working steam railroad, delighting train enthusiasts year-round with passenger service and special seasonal excursions.

Building Nevada's Highways

9781467134064

$24.99

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.

Reno's Riverwalk District

9780738596716

$24.99

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.

Around Laughlin

9781467129848

$23.99

Laughlin, Nevada, today's most dynamic town on the Lower Colorado River, is a relatively new community. In 1966, when founder Don Laughlin opened his casino, only a dozen or so people resided there. Ten years later, when an election christened the town "Laughlin," there were 82 registered voters. It was only in the 1980s that the town exploded. However, the larger tristate area of which Laughlin is a part--where Nevada, Arizona, and California meet--is a much older, historically important community. It goes back to Native Americans who claim origin at the beginning of time at Spirit Mountain, on Laughlin's border. And it continues through a montage of characters from the Old West--explorers, Indian warriors, soldiers, riverboat captains, miners, cattlemen, dam constructors, and entrepreneurs--leading to the Laughlin of today, a destination gaming site, recreation mecca, and upscale retirement and snowbird community.

Goldfield

9781467160025

$23.99

There was a time when Goldfield, Nevada, was known around the world as a city growing in the desert, seemingly out of nowhere, with no natural resources except for the extremely rich and plentiful mineral found in the ground--gold! In England, they were afraid the amount of gold mined in Goldfield would flood the market, making gold worthless. In Germany, gold seekers heard of the riches and made their way to the remote desert site. Those that had gone to Alaska for the great Klondike rush were now headed to Nevada. Goldfield was the last great gold rush on the American frontier. Discovered in 1902, its boom lasted about a decade and then came the inevitable and fateful decline. Yet its story is largely unknown. Nevada historians and scholars have documented Goldfield for years; others have amassed vast collections of ephemera, artifacts, and photographs; and some have even collected and restored the town's most impressive buildings. Through personal photo albums and accounts of those who were there, this book reflects life in Goldfield, Nevada, the last great American gold rush.

Area 51

9780738576206

$23.99

Area 51, a top secret military installation for testing unacknowledged, or black, projects, lies in a desert valley northwest of Las Vegas. During the Cold War, CIA and Air Force officials chose this remote location to shield such efforts from foreign spies and US citizens. Although the base has been known by many names--Paradise Ranch, Watertown, and Dreamland, among others--the designation "Area 51" has taken root most deeply in the public imagination. Since 1955, it has grown from a temporary camp into a national test facility supporting nearly 2,000 military and civilian workers and dozens of projects, including aircraft capable of cruising at Mach 3 and stealth airplanes that are virtually invisible to radar. Although secrecy surrounding Area 51 spawned rumors of UFOs and reverse-engineered alien spacecraft, declassified photographs provide a rare glimpse into the true nature of America's most famous secret base.

The Folies Bergere in Las Vegas

9781467127592

$24.99

Debuting at the Tropicana Hotel on Christmas Eve, 1959, at a reported cost of one quarter-million dollars (over two million in today's dollars), the Folies Bergere stage show featured a cast of "eighty stars" and promised an elegant evening of sensual entertainment complete with sensational song and dance numbers, curious novelty acts, and exquisite leggy showgirls. Imported directly from Paris, the iconic French production, famed for its elegant and chic legacy, was a mainstay on the Las Vegas Strip for nearly half a century. A 1959 Las Vegas Sun newspaper article portends the significant role that the Folies Bergere would play in the city's history: "From beginning to end this is the most dazzling entertainment which any city has been privileged to see. It's saucy, piquant and racy in the splendidly provocative French way. Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, is now no idle boast."

Early Carson City

9780738571584

$24.99

Located at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in a high-desert valley of northeastern Nevada, a lone trading post known as Eagle Station formed the early settlement of Carson City. In 1858, Abraham Curry purchased the property named for famous frontiersman and scout Christopher "Kit" Carson and set aside 10 acres for the predicted future territorial capital, which flourished after the discovery of gold and silver at the nearby Comstock Lode in Virginia City. In 1864, at the dawn of the Civil War, a 16,000-word telegram was sent to President Lincoln in Washington, D.C., declaring Nevada a state and Carson City as the permanent capital. Once known as "America's smallest capital," Carson City has persisted through a long, complicated, and mysterious history, which was celebrated during the city's 150th birthday in 2008. Many wonderful reports and never-before-seen photographs came to light during the celebration and are shared here in Early Carson City.

Dayton

9781467133265

$24.99

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.