Searchlight, Nevada

History

According to U.S. Senator Harry Reid (1939–2021), who wrote extensively about his hometown, the most likely story as to how the town received its name was that when George Frederick Colton was looking for gold in the area on May 6, 1897, he supposedly said that it would take a searchlight to find gold ore there. Shortly thereafter, he found gold, leading to a boom era when Searchlight had a larger population than Las Vegas. At the time, it was in Lincoln County, Nevada. As talk surfaced for carving Clark County, Nevada out of Lincoln County, Searchlight was initially considered to be the county seat. Between 1907 and 1910, the gold mines produced $7 million in gold and other precious minerals, and the town had a population of about 1,500. The ore was shipped to Barnwell via the Barnwell and Searchlight Railway.

Other stories on the origin of the name include a story that Colton was lighting a Searchlight brand match when he discovered the gold ore. Reid dismissed this story, saying that the Searchlight matches were not available in 1898. Yet another story says that Colton thought the area would be a good place because it was on a hill. His mine was called the Duplex, because the gold ore was found on two levels.

Searchlight declined after 1917 but remained as a stop on the Arrowhead Highway. In 1927, U.S. Route 91 bypassed the town and its population dropped to 50.

The town had a resurgence in the 1930s and 1940s with the construction of the nearby Hoover Dam and was the site of the El Rey Bordello in the 1940s and early 1950s until the bordello burned down. The last gold mine ceased operating around 1953.

Geography

Climate

The city experiences a desert climate (Köppen: BWh) with hot summers and cool winters, but it is not uncommon to see temperatures below freezing. Searchlight's elevation makes temperatures somewhat cooler than lower-elevation areas in the Mojave Desert, such as Baker, California; Needles, California; and Fort Mohave, Arizona. However, summers can still be extremely hot. Due to Searchlight's altitude and aridity, temperatures drop quickly after sunset, especially in the summer. Daytime highs in the winter are usually well above freezing, and nighttime lows drop below freezing only a few nights a year.

| Jan record high F = 77 | Feb record high F = 81 | Mar record high F = 90 | Apr record high F = 94 | May record high F = 102 | Jun record high F = 110 | Jul record high F = 111 | Aug record high F = 110 | Sep record high F = 107 | Oct record high F = 98 | Nov record high F = 86 | Dec record high F = 75 | year record high F = 111 | Jan record low F = 7 | Feb record low F = 11 | Mar record low F = 20 | Apr record low F = 27 | May record low F = 30 | Jun record low F = 40 | Jul record low F = 52 | Aug record low F = 51 | Sep record low F = 41 | Oct record low F = 23 | Nov record low F = 15 | Dec record low F = 8 | year record low F = 7

Demographics

2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 576 people, 315 households and 136 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 44.1 /sqmi. There were 444 housing units at an average density of 34.0 /sqmi. The racial make-up of the CDP was 95.0% White, 0.7% African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 1.7% from other races and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.7% of the population.

There were 315 households, of which 8.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.9% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present and 56.8% were non-families. 48.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.76 and the average family size was 2.46.

10.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 3.1% from 18 to 24, 20.0% from 25 to 44, 35.8% from 45 to 64 and 31.1% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 55 years. For every 100 females, there were 125.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 131.3 males.

The median household income was $24,407 and the median family income was $29,323. Males had a median income of $26,563 and females $27,868. The per capita income was $19,606. None of the household families were living below the poverty line, with just 14.6% of the population comprising that, including no one under age 18 and none of those over 64.

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 445 people, 229 households, and 99 families residing in the CDP.{{US Census population

Education

Public education in Searchlight is administered by Clark County School District. The district operates Reid Elementary School (K–5) in Searchlight.

Searchlight has a public library, a branch of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

Transportation

Public transport

The Silver Rider Transit operates express buses between Laughlin, Searchlight and Las Vegas. Private shuttle companies connect Searchlight with Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.

Highways

Searchlight is located at the junction of two highways; U.S. Route 95 which connects towards Boulder City and the Las Vegas Valley in the north and Needles, California, in the south, and Nevada State Route 164 which has its eastern terminus in Searchlight and heads west towards the California border from where it becomes Nipton Road and eventually connects to Interstate 15.

Notable people

• Rex Bell, westerns actor and politician. Owned the Walking Box Ranch with his wife Clara Bow. The ranch was a popular destination for Hollywood actors.
• Edith Head, costume designer who won more Oscars than any other woman.
• William Harrell Nellis, aviator for whom Nellis Air Force Base is named
• Harry Reid, United States senator, 1987–2017, senate majority leader, 2007–2015

In popular culture

In 1907, the "Searchlight Rag" by Scott Joplin was published. In the early 1890s, Joplin's friends, the brothers Tom and Charles Turpin, had been prospecting in the Searchlight area. Their frequent stories of this experience, recounted to the patrons of their bar, inspired the title of the rag.

Searchlight appears as a location in Fallout New Vegas, appearing as an outpost that becomes irradiated following a nuclear war.

References

References

1. "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau.
2. {{GNIS. 845654
3. "Searchlight Town Board".
4. "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): Searchlight CDP, Nevada". [[United States Census Bureau]].
5. Bartlett Pesek, Margo. (April 29, 2012). "Former boomtown Searchlight rich with history". [[Las Vegas Review-Journal]].
6. Harry Rei. (January 1998). "Searchlight: The Camp That Didn't Fail". University of Nevada Press.
7. "Searchlight, Nevada Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)".
8. "Seasonal Temperature and Precipitation Information". Western Regional Climate Center.
9. "Census.gov". United States Census Bureau.
10. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov.
11. "Elementary School - Southeastern Attendance Boundaries". [[Clark County School District]].
12. "Nevada Public Libraries".
13. "Schedule". South Nevada Transit Coalition.
14. "Tri State Shuttle". VegasAirporter.
15. Scavone, Jason. (November 23, 2021). "Artifacts From the Past: Walking Box Ranch".
16. Duka. (October 27, 1981). "Edith Head, Fashion Designer for the Movies, Dies". [[The New York Times]].
17. "Lieutenant William Harrell Nellis". [[United States Air Force]].
18. Kane, Paul. (December 29, 2021). "Searchlight, Las Vegas and the two identities of Harry Reid". [[The Washington Post]].
19. "Perfessor Bill Edwards - Scott Joplin Compositions (1906-1917)".
20. Enerio, Dane. (April 24, 2024). "Fallout: New Vegas Fan Recreates Searchlight in Far Cry 5". [[Valnet]].