Bunkerville is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in Clark County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, United States. The population was 1,069 at the 2020 census.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the census-designated place of Bunkerville (which may not coincide exactly with the town boundaries) has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.12%, is water.

Climate

Bunkerville has a

hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''BWh''), with cool winters and very hot summers.

History

Bunkerville was settled in 1877 by

Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter-day Saints, who Human migration, migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the ...

from

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. It is named after Edward Bunker, who was already a seasoned pioneer settler before he came to Bunkerville, having pioneered the settlement at Santa Clara, Utah. Bunker, on his own initiative but with permission from

Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...

, moved his large

polygamous Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one h ...

family southwest to Bunkerville after the settlers in Santa Clara had failed to live the communitarian United Order. The residents of Bunkerville, so named by Brigham Young, established a new communal effort, sharing the work and the fruits of their work, with all land being held in common. The communal experiment ended in 1880. According to the

Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers and to develop a history and overview of the United States, by state, cities and other jurisdictions. It was ...

, Bunkerville had 287 inhabitants in 1941. In the 1950s, Bunkerville was downwind of

nuclear test sites Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

, which caused a spike in childhood leukemia and other cancers in the region. Residents recall playing in nuclear fallout as if it were snow, and report a lasting mistrust of the government. In the spring of 2014, Bunkerville was the scene of the Bundy standoff, an armed confrontation between protesters and law enforcement over the non-payment of the grazing fees by Cliven Bundy, a local rancher.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,014 people, 258 households, and 222 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 277 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 75.15%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.69%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.87% Asian, 0.59%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 15.68% from other races, and 6.02% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 24.85% of the population. There were 258 households, out of which 54.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 13.6% were non-families. 11.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.93 and the average family size was 4.27. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 41.9% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 15.8% from 45 to 64, and 6.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.7 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $45,076, and the median income for a family was $46,098. Males had a median income of $27,153 versus $20,878 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $16,820. About 3.6% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 13.4% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Bunkerville has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, a branch of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

Notable people

* Juanita Brooks (1898–1989), born in Bunkerville; Mormon writer, editor, historian, descendant of Bunkerville pioneer Dudley Leavitt * Ammon Bundy (born 1975), son of Cliven Bundy and leader of the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge *

Cliven Bundy Cliven D. Bundy (born April 29, 1946) is an American cattle rancher known for his role in the 2014 Bundy standoff. Bundy has advocated a philosophy opposed to what he views as federal government overreach. He is the father of Ammon Bundy, who ...

(born 1946), cattle rancher involved in the Bundy standoff * Edward Bunker (August 1, 1822 – November 17, 1901),

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

pioneer for whom Bunkerville is named * Dixie L. Leavitt (born 1929), Utah state legislator and businessman, lived in Bunkerville

References

External links

Bunkerville Town Advisory Board

Clark County Justice Court, Bunkerville
{{authority control Bundy standoff Census-designated places in Clark County, Nevada Census-designated places in Nevada Populated places established in 1877 Populated places in the Mojave Desert Unincorporated towns in Nevada 1877 establishments in Nevada