Eastern Mojave Vegetation Rachel, Lincoln County, Nevada.
 
Gazetteer

Query: G.N.I.S.

Originally called “Sandy” because of its long expanse of sand, Rachel is the youngest town in Nevada and is considered the “UFO Capital of the World.” The town was named after Rachel Jones, the first child born in the community founded by D.C. Day in 1978. The community has been featured in magazines, books, television shows and many major newspapers as the center of UFO activity, drawing Sci-Fi fans and visitors from all over the world. The result of this publicity was the renaming of Highway 375 as “The Extraterrestrial Highway” by the Nevada State Legislature. For the inquisitive, part of the Nevada Test Site is situated in southwestern Lincoln County, close to Rachel. However, for obvious reasons, there are no guided tours and warning signs are posted for visitors who get a little too curious. With only about one hundred people in the entire valley, Rachel does not even have a post office. There is, however, a gas station/convenience store at one end of town, a restaurant/bar/motel at the other, and an RV park. Although there are least five permanent houses, most people live in mobile homes on patches of scrub desert. The town is located at the southern end of the Sand Springs Valley, an otherwise empty, bowl-shaped valley about twenty-five miles wide. In and around this little town, alfalfa is grown and cattle raised. Western history buffs may want to explore the mountains surrounding Rachel. Paiute Indian artifacts such as arrowheads, petroglyphs and other signs of encampments can be found. Not far from Rachel are said to be ghost towns full of spirits of deceased cowboys. Inquire locally for directions.


Elevation: 0ft, 0m.

Articles that refer to this location:

  • Nevada Highway 375: Rachel; 
 

Literature Referring To This Location:

  • Anonymous. n. d.. Lincoln County: Driving Tours and Walking Tours. {TAS-pdf} There are several sources for this uncredited document: Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce (www.lincolncountynevada.com) and Pioche Chamber of Commerce (www.piochenevada.com).
No collections made at this location.
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Date and time this article was prepared:3:33:19 PM, 4/27/2024.