Lander County, Nevada: History and Information

Lander County, Nevada

Lander County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Battle Mountain
Year Organized: 1862
Square Miles: 5,494

Court House:

315 South Humboldt Street
County Courthouse
Battle Mountain, NV 89820-1982

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named in honor of Gen. Frederick W. Lander, a brigadier general during the Civil War, and fought in the Indian War of 1860. As chief engineer for a Federal wagon route, he was also in charge of the construction of the Central Overland Route. Landers died from wounds sustained in battle at 40 years old, at Paw Paw, Virginia

Demographics:

History

December 19, 1862 - Named in honor of Gen. Frederick W. Lander, a brigadier general during the Civil War, and fought in the Indian War of 1860. As chief engineer for a Federal wagon route, he was also in charge of the construction of the Central Overland Route. Landers died from wounds sustained in battle at 40 years old, at Paw Paw, Virginia, March 2nd, 1862. Seat: Austin. Austin began as a silver mining camp in 1862. Named for Alvah C. Austin, partner to David Buel who laid out the town site; however another source, the De Lamar Lode, April 30th, 1903 reported that it was so named in honor of John Austin. It is also claimed to commemorate Leander Kelse Austin, uncle of George Austin, developer of the Jumbo Mine in Humboldt County. Yet another story surfaces that claim the town was named by David Buel, for his home, Austin, Texas.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 5,519 square miles (14,295 km²), of which, 5,494 square miles (14,228 km²) of it is land and 26 square miles (67 km²) of it (0.47%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Elko County, Nevada - north

Eureka County, Nevada - east

Nye County, Nevada - south

Churchill County, Nevada - west

Pershing County, Nevada - west

Humboldt County, Nevada - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Battle Mountain (County Seat)

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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