Hawthorne is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

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 ...

(CDP) in Mineral County, Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,118. It is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Mineral County. The nearby Hawthorne Army Depot is the primary economic base of the town.

History

The first permanent settlement at Hawthorne was established in 1880. The townsite was selected in 1880 by H. M. Yerington, president of the Carson and Colorado Railroad Co. as a division and distribution site for the new railroad. The location was adjacent to the important Knapp's Station and Ferry Landing on the busy Esmeralda Toll Road from Wadsworth to Candelaria. Connecting roads were built to all of the surrounding mining areas. H. M. Yerington named the new town "Hawthorne" after a lumberman, rancher, and law enforcement friend he knew in

Carson City Carson City, officially the Carson City Consolidated Municipality, is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the 6th most populous city in the state. The m ...

. The first train arrived on April 14, 1881, loaded with prospective buyers for the new town lots. In 1883, Hawthorne took the Esmeralda County seat from declining Aurora but later lost it to booming Goldfield. In 1911, it again became a county seat, this time for the new Mineral County.Hawthorne
/ref>

Geography

Hawthorne is located in west-central Mineral County at (38.525198, -118.623053). It is nearly surrounded by the Hawthorne Army Depot and is bordered to the northwest by the remains of the community of Babbitt.

U.S. Route 95 U.S. Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland ...

passes through the community, leading north to Fallon and southeast to Tonopah. Nevada State Route 359 leads southwest from Hawthorne to the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

border, from where California State Route 167 continues to Mono City. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hawthorne CDP has a total area of , all land. Walker Lake is to the north, and the Wassuk Range overlooks the town from the west. The highest point in the range and in Mineral County, Mount Grant, is northwest of Hawthorne.

Climate

Demographics

At the 2000 census there were 3,311 people, 1,465 households, and 937 families in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,883 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 83.6% White, 5.0% African American, 3.2% Native American, 1.5% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 2.7% from other races, and 3.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.7%. Of the 1,465 households 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. 31.2% of households were one person and 15.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.74. The age distribution was 22.9% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 22.3% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 20.6% 65 or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $34,413, and the median income for a family was $41,733. Males had a median income of $31,344 versus $25,058 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 $17,830. About 8.6% of families and 10.8% 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 14.7% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Hawthorne 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 ...

, the Mineral County Library.

Places of interest

* Hawthorne Army Depot * Hawthorne Ordnance Museum * Mineral County Museum * Walker Lake

Gallery

File:MINERAL COUNTY COURTHOUSE.jpg, Mineral County Courthouse is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. File:Lovedays Inn (Hawthorne, Nevada) 01.jpg, Lovedays Inn File:Mineral County Museum (Hawthorne, Nevada) 001.jpg, Mineral County Museum File:Macedonia Baptist Church (Hawthorne, Nevada) 001.jpg, Macedonia Baptist Church File:Hawthorne Cemetery, Nevada.jpg, Soldiers' Memorial File:Hawthorne Ordnance Museum 003.jpg, Hawthorne Ordnance Museum File:Hawthorne Post Office.jpg, Hawthorne Post Office

References

External links

Hawthorne - Ghost Towns

The Nevada Travel Network Description and History of Hawthorne by David W. Toll
{{authority control ''This article contains information in the public domain from the State of Nevada.'' 1880 establishments in Nevada Census-designated places in Mineral County, Nevada Census-designated places in Nevada County seats in Nevada Populated places established in 1880