Yerington

History

The Yerington Paiute Tribe of the Yerington Colony and Campbell Ranch is headquartered in Yerington. The people, known as Numu (human beings) in their own language, have lived in the Smith and Mason Valleys in Northwestern Nevada, since around 1000 A.D. The community was formerly named Greenfield, Mason Valley, and Pizen Switch (irreverent nickname from the time when Yerington was a transfer - or switch - stop, and the local whiskey was so bad that it was called "poison". "Poison" came out sounding like "pizen" because of local vernacular, and the name "Pizen Switch" stuck.) It was founded on August 6, 1871. The city was incorporated on March 17, 1907. The ranchers, not knowing what it was, attempted to notify the authorities by mail, but did not receive a response until after they cut it up and used it as a hay tarp.

Geography

Yerington is located at the intersection of US 95A and Nevada State Route 208. It is south of Silver Springs and U.S. Route 50, 47 miles (76 km) south of Fernley and Interstate 80, west of Schurz and U.S. Route 95, and northeast of Smith Valley. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. The Walker River is formed in southern Lyon County, south of Yerington, by the confluence of the East Walker and West Walker rivers. It flows into the Mason Valley where Yerington is located, and is used for irrigation. Yerington experiences a cool desert climate. Yerington is noticeably more arid than areas even marginally closer to the Sierra Nevada – it receives only half as much precipitation as Carson City, a third as much as South Lake Tahoe and only one-eighth as much as Nevada City, California on the western Sierra slopes. Because the drying effect of the Pine Nut Mountains is most pronounced in the winter, Yerington receives very little snow in most years, although in the very cold and snowy month of January 1916 as much as fell and that season saw a total of . January 2017 proved the first month to exceed of precipitation when it totaled . |source 2 = National Weather Service }}

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  361
• California Quail

  Callipepla californica (Shaw, 1798) · Aves
  277
• American Kestrel

  Falco sparverius Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  273
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  269
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  263
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  259
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  258
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  251

Largest nearby schools

• Yerington Elementary School
  Elementary · Yerington · 481 students · 18.5:1 ratio
• Yerington Intermediate School
  Middle · Yerington · 403 students · 18.3:1 ratio
• Yerington High School
  High · Yerington · 394 students · 20.7:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.63 — 2026-09-13
  18 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
• M 2.71 — 2026-09-13
  18 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
• M 2.7 — 2026-08-24
  3 km W of Walker, CA
• M 2.65 — 2026-08-22
  20 km ESE of Silver Springs, Nevada
• M 2.54 — 2026-08-18
  20 km ESE of Silver Springs, Nevada
• M 3.29 — 2026-08-05
  22 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada