Panaca

History

The area that was to become the Panaca settlement was explored by Mormons in 1857. Brigham Young 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, 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.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Panaca census-designated place has an area of , all of it land. Along Nevada State Route 319, it is east to the Utah state line and from there another east to Cedar City, Utah. West from Panaca it is to U.S. Route 93, at which point it is north to Pioche and south to Caliente.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Panaca Elementary School
  Elementary · Panaca · 189 students · 23.6:1 ratio
• Lincoln County High School
  High · Panaca · 169 students · 28.2:1 ratio
• Meadow Valley Middle School
  Middle · Panaca · 78 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• Lincoln County Adult High School
  Other · Panaca