Austin, Nevada

Austin is a small, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Lander County, Nevada, United States. In 2010, its population was 192. It is located on the western slopes of the Toiyabe Range at an elevation of 6,605 feet (2,013 m). U.S. Route 50 passes through the town.

History

The city of Austin was mapped out in 1862 by David Buell, and named after his partner, Alvah Austin during a silver rush reputedly triggered by a Pony Express horse who kicked over a rock. By summer 1863, Austin and the surrounding Reese River Mining District had a population of over 10,000, and it became the county seat of Lander County (the seat was shifted to Battle Mountain in 1979). In 1864, the town launched Reuel Colt Gridley's impromptu fundraising drive that raised over $250,000 for wounded Civil War veterans, by repeatedly auctioning a sack of flour.

The Nevada Central Railroad was built to connect Austin with the transcontinental railroad at Battle Mountain in 1880. However, by that time the boom was almost over. Major silver production ended by 1887, although there was a slight revival in the 1910s. In the mid-1950s there was a great deal of interest in uranium deposits in the area, but the ore proved to be of low quality. Gold and silver mining has continued in the area sporadically and at generally low levels of production. High quality turquoise is still mined in the area in small quantities. This active turquoise mining, together with several shops that manufacture jewelry from local turquoise have made Austin a sort of Nevada Turquoise mecca.

Nevada

Nevada (Spanish for "snow covered") is a state in the Western, Mountain West, and Southwestern regions of the United States of America. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 35th most populous, and the 9th least densely populated of the 50 United States. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area where three of the state's four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada's capital is Carson City. Nevada is officially known as the "Silver State" due to the importance of silver to its history and economy. It is also known as the "Battle Born State", because it achieved statehood during the Civil War (the words "Battle Born" also appear on the state flag); as the "Sagebrush State", for the native plant of the same name; and as "Sage hen State". Nevada borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast and Utah to the east.

Nevada is largely desert and semiarid, much of it located within the Great Basin. Areas south of the Great Basin are located within the Mojave Desert, while Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada lie on the western edge. About 86% of the state's land is managed by various jurisdictions of the U.S. federal government, both civilian and military.

Nevada (UK band)

Nevada were a British folk/progressive band and a spin-off from Renaissance, featuring Annie Haslam on vocals and Mick Dunford on guitar. Their Christmas single, "In the Bleak Midwinter" reached the lower edges of the UK singles chart in 1983.

Background

Renaissance had been moderately successful during the 1970s, having a top ten UK singles chart hit in 1978 with "Northern Lights", but were better known as an album band, and for their live performances, particularly at Carnegie Hall. In 1979, the band had taken a less symphonic/orchestral and more electronically based turn with the album Azure d'Or, which resulted in disappointing sales and resultant dropping by their label, Warner Bros. Records. Meanwhile, the lineup of Renaissance was in flux, as John Tout and Terry Sullivan left for varying reasons.

Nevada

The reduced version of Renaissance then took stock; according to the sleeve notes to their CD, "It was time to stand back, take a breather, experiment, and to embark on a new working relationship with their fellow countryman Peter Gosling". Gosling had been in the 1960s band "Moon Train" which had been managed and produced by Bill Wyman, played keyboards on the Renaissance album Camera Camera and later on Time-Line. The single "In the Bleak Midwinter", a version of the Christmas carol by Gustav Holst and Christina Rossetti was released for the 1982 Christmas market, but did not enter the UK singles chart until 8 January 1983. It spent one week on the chart at number 71. Their second single, "You Know I Like It" did not trouble the charts and the project went no further. Renaissance finally folded in 1987; Haslam and Dunford embarked on solo careers, and Gosling wrote music for television and film.

Nevada (Binnie novel)

Nevada: A Novel is the debut novel from author Imogen Binnie, released by Topside Press in 2013. Nevada follows the adventures of transgender New York punk woman Maria Griffiths.

Plot

When Griffiths finds out her girlfriend cheated on her, she spirals out of control, stealing her girlfriend's car and buying heroin before heading west on a journey of self-discovery. In Nevada, she meets James Hanson, and immediately realizes that Hanson is also transgender, but doesn't realize it yet. The two travel to Reno together. Griffiths frequently lapses into long inner monologues throughout the book, reflecting on gender, heteronormativity, and social conditioning.

Inspiration

Binnie has said that in writing a story about a transgender protagonist, she wanted to resist the risk of explaining "The Trans Experience for cis people," which she says often happens with transgender memoirs. Because Nevada is a work of fiction, Binnie said she approached writing it as a transgender story written for trans women. "One of the questions I was trying to answer with Nevada was, what would a story about trans women that was intended for an audience of trans women — what would that look like?" Binnie told blogger Sarah McCarry in an interview about the book.