Panaca is an unincorporated town in eastern Lincoln 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, on State Route 319, about east of U.S. Route 93, near the border with

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 ...

. Its

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

is above sea level. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 963. It is one of only two cities in Nevada that prohibits gambling, the other being Boulder City.

History

The area that was to become the Panaca settlement was explored by

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, 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 d ...

in 1857.

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 ...

dispatched the explorers in order to locate a potential refuge in case of a U.S. military campaign against Utah. The location was selected due to the Meadow Valley oasis at the headwaters of the Muddy River. Mormon scouts began irrigation ditches and started fields, but the site was soon deserted after the feared violence never materialized. Panaca was the first permanent settlement by European Americans in southern Nevada. It was founded as a Mormon colony in 1864. It began as part of

Washington County, Utah Washington County is a county in the southwestern corner of Utah, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 180,279, making it the fifth-most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is St. Geor ...

, 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 Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

. Coke ovens here once produced charcoal for the smelters in nearby Bullionville (now a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

), but the town's economy is predominantly agricultural. The name "Panaca" comes from the

Southern Paiute The Southern Paiute people () are a tribe of Native Americans who have lived in the Colorado River basin of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, and southern Utah. Bands of Southern Paiute live in scattered locations throughout this territory an ...

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.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Panaca

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 ...

has an area of , all of it land. Along Nevada State Route 319 it is east to the

state line and from there another east to

Cedar City, Utah Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. Located south of Salt Lake City, it is north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15 in Utah, Interstate 15. Southern Utah University is located in Cedar City. It is the home of the Ut ...

. West from Panaca it is to U.S. Route 93, at which point it is north to Pioche and south to Caliente.

Transportation

The Panaca area is served by the following highways: * US 93

U.S. Route 93 (Great Basin Highway) * Nevada 319

Nevada State Route 319 (Main Street) * Nevada 816

Nevada State Route 816 (Panaca Airport Road) The Lincoln County Airport is a public-use airport operated by Lincoln County. It is located to the west of Panaca's

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

and is accessed via State Route 816.

Demographics

Attractions

Panaca is located near Cathedral Gorge State Park. The following

Nevada historical markers Nevada historical markers identify significant places of interest in Nevada's history. The Historic Marker Program was initiated by the Nevada State Legislature in 1967 to bring the state's heritage to the public's attention with on-site markers. ...

have been placed in Panaca: * Panaca (#39) * Panaca Mercantile Store (#93) * Panaca Spring (#160) * Panaca Ward Chapel (#182) Panaca celebrates Pioneer Day on the Saturday closest to July 24. Events include cannon firing at 6 A.M., games and races, a parade, art displays, and a community dinner. This coincides with the Utah holiday commemorating the arrival of the

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 ...

in the

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Utah, Murray, Sandy, Uta ...

References

External links

Official website for Lincoln County

Panaca's web page from the Nevada Commission on Tourism

Panaca news from the ''Lincoln County Record'' newspaper
{{authority control Census-designated places in Lincoln County, Nevada Census-designated places in Nevada Unincorporated towns in Nevada Populated places established in 1864