Searchlight, Nevada facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Searchlight, Nevada
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View of Searchlight, from the southwest
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Location of Searchlight in Clark County, Nevada
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| Country | United States |
| State | Nevada |
| County | Clark |
| Founded | May 6, 1897 |
| Named for | Searchlight |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.87 sq mi (10.03 km2) |
| • Land | 3.87 sq mi (10.03 km2) |
| • Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 3,547 ft (1,081 m) |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 445 |
| • Density | 114.87/sq mi (44.35/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP codes |
89039, 89046
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| Area code(s) | 702 and 725 |
| FIPS code | 32-65600 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0845654 |
| Reference #: | 116 |
Searchlight is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, at the topographic saddle between two mountain ranges. At the 2020 census it had a population of 445.
Contents
History
According to Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who has written 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 in 1897, he supposedly said that it would take a searchlight to find gold ore there. 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.
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 dismisses 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. Colton's mine was called the Duplex, because the gold ore was found on two levels.
Searchlight declined after 1917 but hung on as a stop on the Arrowhead Highway. In 1927, U.S. Highway 91 bypassed the town, and its population dropped to 50.
The town had a resurgence in the 1930s and 1940s with the construction of nearby Hoover Dam. 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.
| Climate data for Searchlight, elevation 3,550 ft | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 77 (25) |
81 (27) |
90 (32) |
94 (34) |
102 (39) |
110 (43) |
111 (44) |
110 (43) |
107 (42) |
98 (37) |
86 (30) |
75 (24) |
111 (44) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 53.7 (12.1) |
58.4 (14.7) |
65.0 (18.3) |
73.1 (22.8) |
82.5 (28.1) |
92.7 (33.7) |
97.6 (36.4) |
95.4 (35.2) |
89.0 (31.7) |
77.0 (25.0) |
63.6 (17.6) |
54.4 (12.4) |
75.2 (24.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 35.6 (2.0) |
38.3 (3.5) |
41.8 (5.4) |
48.0 (8.9) |
55.9 (13.3) |
64.8 (18.2) |
71.4 (21.9) |
69.6 (20.9) |
63.9 (17.7) |
53.9 (12.2) |
43.0 (6.1) |
36.4 (2.4) |
51.9 (11.1) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 7 (−14) |
11 (−12) |
20 (−7) |
27 (−3) |
30 (−1) |
40 (4) |
52 (11) |
51 (11) |
41 (5) |
23 (−5) |
15 (−9) |
8 (−13) |
7 (−14) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.92 (23) |
0.96 (24) |
0.77 (20) |
0.40 (10) |
0.20 (5.1) |
0.11 (2.8) |
0.91 (23) |
1.08 (27) |
0.61 (15) |
0.52 (13) |
0.43 (11) |
0.79 (20) |
7.70 (196) |
| Source: WRCC | |||||||||||||
Demographics
2020 census
As of the census of 2020, there were 445 people, 229 households, and 99 families residing in the CDP.
| Historical population | |||
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 2000 | 576 | — | |
| 2020 | 445 | — | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
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 done prospecting in the Searchlight area. The brothers' frequent stories of this experience, recounted to the patrons of their bar, inspired the title of the rag.
See also
In Spanish: Searchlight (Nevada) para niños
