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The village started in 1950 at the beginning of operations of the Nevada Test Site as Base Camp Mercury, a military-style encampment built to provide basic facilities for personnel involved. As the scope of the testing program expanded, so did the number of personnel required to fulfill the site's mission, and beginning in 1951 a $6.7 million construction project was undertaken to provide adequate individual housing, office, and service structures with a civilian village-like design. With the acquisition of a full-service Dept of Energy: Legacy of Nevada Test Site Report, p.84
The village flourished until 1992, when all but
Mercury is a closed village in Nye County,
at a point northwest of Las Vegas. It is situated within the Nevada Test Site, Nevada National Security Site and was constructed by the United States Atomic Energy Commission, Atomic Energy Commission to house and service the staff of the test site. The specific site was known as 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, north of U.S. Route 95 in Nevada">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 ...Jackass Flats
Jackass Flats is a shallow alluvial basin located in the southwest portion of the Nevada National Security Site in Nye County, Nevada, United States. The area lies east of Yucca Mountain, south of the Calico Hills and Shoshone Mountain and northwe ...
and nearby Nevada Test Site 400. The site is governed by the United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear w ...
. As part of the test site, the village is not accessible to the general public. It was named after the mercury mines which flourished in its general vicinity a century before the village itself was established. Its population is unknown.
History
The village started in 1950 at the beginning of operations of the Nevada Test Site as Base Camp Mercury, a military-style encampment built to provide basic facilities for personnel involved. As the scope of the testing program expanded, so did the number of personnel required to fulfill the site's mission, and beginning in 1951 a $6.7 million construction project was undertaken to provide adequate individual housing, office, and service structures with a civilian village-like design. With the acquisition of a full-service post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
in the mid-1950s, Base Camp Mercury was formally renamed Mercury, Nevada.
In 1957, the US Navy launched nine atmospheric sounding rockets to measure nuclear radiation and other atmospheric data, using Mercury as a staging area. The Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory conducted its first test flight in 1956. This test rocket lifted to an altitude of .
In the early 1960s the village population grew to over 10,000, and further construction work was undertaken to upgrade the permanence of the village. A school was established, and numerous recreational and shopping facilities were added, including a movie theater, bowling alley, recreation hall, swimming pool, and hobby center, as well as a full-care health clinic, library, lodging (the Atomic Motel being the most prominent example), a non-denominational chapel with a cadre of chaplains, a service station with a garage, and a bus station. In 1962, the Desert Rock Airport was added for the visit from President John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
on December 8.subcritical
In the operation of a nuclear reactor, criticality or critical state is the state in which a nuclear chain reaction is self-sustaining but not growing. Subcriticality or subcritical state is the state in which a nuclear chain reaction is not self ...
nuclear testing ended at the Nevada Test Site, as a result of the United States honoring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nati ...
(even though the U.S. has not yet ratified the treaty). The population shrank rapidly thereafter, leaving most of the facilities abandoned. A skeleton crew of scientists and military remains in Mercury, conducting limited testing and research. Most of the amenities have closed, and the village has become a shell of its former self, although dining, bar facilities, and a gym remain. The population is unknown and fluctuates. The last known census recorded about 500 people.
Geography
Climate
According to theKöppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Mercury has a cold 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 ...
, abbreviated "BWk" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Mercury was on July 11, 2021, while the coldest temperature recorded was on December 22, 1990.
See also
*References
{{Nye County, Nevada 1950 establishments in Nevada Closed cities Landmarks in Nevada Nevada Test Site Populated places established in 1950 Unincorporated communities in Nye County, Nevada