Nevada County is a county located in California's Sierra Nevada, in the Mother Lode country. As of 2000 its population is 92,033. The county seat is Nevada City. Some of the towns are: Alta Sierra, Grass Valley, Lake of the Pines, Lake Wildwood, Nevada City, Penn Valley, Truckee, Washington. From 1990 to 2000 the population in this county grew by 66%.

Interesting facts

The world's first long-distance telephone call was made from Nevada City, California to Washington, California The Pelton wheel, designed to power gold mines, still drives hydro-electric generators today.

Nevada City and Grass Valley were among the first California towns with electric lights.
 

Lyman Gilmore, a contemporary of the Wright Brothers, developed early powered aircraft and operated the world's first commercial air field in Grass Valley.

Charles Litton, Sr., a resident and entrepreneur of Nevada County, assisted Raytheon in the development of the magnetron tube.

Atari developed its first home computer video games here in Nevada County
The Olympics, NASA, and virtually every TV broadcast station around the country utilizes video/broadcasting equipment designed and manufactured by The Grass Valley Group, founded in Grass Valley, and still flourishing in Nevada County today.

Electronic medical dosing equipment was first developed and manufactured in Nevada County.

The first commercially viable picture-phone was developed in Nevada City Over 50 high tech and applied tech companies, and more than 1,000 hardware and software design and development professionals call Nevada County home. Sometimes referred to as the "Silicon Valley of the Sierras".

Prayer Focus - Nevada County: Submitted by Pray Nevada County Leader

Pray Nevada County has been active for eight years now meeting weekly to pray for the needs of our communities. Primarily, we have prayed at different churches for a month at a time, but during the summer, we busted out of the box and began to pray at other sites. One month we were at Empire Mine Historical Park, then at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, and currently we are praying at the Nevada County Jail in Nevada City. The Healing Rooms of Nevada County is now operating free of charge out of a few conference rooms at the hospital, which we consider quite a "God thing".

We have been praying inside the jail. The jail inmates are experiencing quite a revival with many of the inmates professing the Lord Jesus. Last week when we were there, we were told that the maximum security women prisoners were holding a prayer meeting for us as we were praying for them! Pray any obstacles to this ministry will come down and that great grace and favor will attend the efforts to reach the prisoners for Christ.

We have been working toward unity in this county! It has been interesting to observe the business community here recently demonstrate that they understand the power of unity as five Rotary Clubs partnered together to send massive relief supplies to the victims of Katrina. Also, headlines in our local paper recently read "Officials Gather for Historic Meeting". The city councils of Nevada City, Grass Valley, and Truckee along with the Nevada County Board of Supervisors met for the first time all together to get to know one another and discuss the most pressing issues facing Nevada County:

(1) Methamphetamine use (2) Affordable housing (3) Growth (4) Transportation. The meth crisis really has a stranglehold on the county budget and is negatively affecting every aspect of life in Nevada County. Please make this concerns a matter of Prayer. Pray that the churches will become more active in Prayer Mobilization and community transformation.

Please pray that God will be glorified through our public access television stations (one in Truckee and one in Nevada City). This very affordable means of communication is being used quite effectively by the New Age folks, the Scientologists, and the Unitarian Universalists. It is time that we Christians dominate the air waves with the truth of the Gospel.

You may or may not know that Nevada County is quite a haven for occult activity - everything from New Age to blatant Satanism. All this to say that we are a prime candidate for community transformation as we continue to invite God to arise, scatter His enemies, and dwell in our midst.
God has spoken many prophetic promises over our area that we are believing to see manifest. One of the most recent from Lou Engle was that our area that once experienced such a tremendous Gold Rush, would experience an even greater "God Rush". Please pray that all of the Lord's prophetic words declared over this area would become our reality.

History of Nevada City “Queen City of the Northern Hills”

Nevada City was originally called Deer Creek Dry Diggins when it was just a mining camp. In the fall of 1849 Dr. A.B. Caldwell opened a general store and the mining camp started resembling a town. The town became Caldwell's Upper Store. In 1850, the town was looking more like a city, with a cities' problems. The citizens, under Mexican law, elected a mayor, or "Alcalde," to establish and keep order.

The new city needed an official name, so, in a canvas hotel at Main and Commercial streets, ballots were taken. The choice of "Nevada" which is Spanish for "Snow Covered" seemed appropriate to the crowd. On September 9, 1850 California was the 31st state to join the Union. In 1851, Nevada City became the County Seat when Nevada County was formed from a section of Yuba County. By 1856, 2081 votes were cast in the City of Nevada, only Sacramento and San Francisco polled more. In 1859, Silver was discovered in the Utah Territory. The first samples were assayed (weighed and assessed for value) at Ott's Assay Office in Nevada (City). Many of Nevada's residents headed over the Sierra to search for silver in what became known as the Comstock Silver Rush. Later, in 1864, that part of the Utah Territory was formed into the State of Nevada. In that year, the word "City" was added to Nevada, to distinguish the two for the benefit of all (particularly the Postal Service.)

After the initial gold rush, merchants, bankers and the like came to Nevada City and built homes in the style of the day. This was during the reign of Queen Victoria, and that style of architecture became known as "Victorian". Colonial, Greek Revival, and "California Gothic" styles of architecture are well represented here as well.

Most of Nevada City burned to the ground on several occasions. Two of the most interesting buildings in the downtown area are fire houses that were built with more than utilitarian style. This also accounts for the prevalance of brick buildings featuring iron shutters.

What accounts for the preservation of Nevada City is the economic downturn it faced when the gold started petering out. By World War II, when the mines in Grass Valley closed, there was not much reason for building or refurbishing of old buildings, and the architecture of the period was spared urban renewal.

WPA projects in the post-war period gave Nevada City the art deco facades of the city hall and court house. In the late 1960s the residents and visitors of the area started recognizing the remarkable charm of the town. City ordinances were revised to disallow the historically inaccurate and downright tacky new storefronts and signage, and the city buried all the power lines littering the downtown area. Gas lights made from original 1800s molds were placed along Broad Street, and the Nevada Theatre was restored. Private restorations followed, and the result is the beautiful little city of Nevada City.

Nevada City is not a museum, it is a hub of activity. Business, arts, sports, and entertainment of every variety occur on and around the streets of the town. There are lots of places to stay, first rate restaurants, and events that draw visitors from far and near. Whether it is for a weekend getaway or a two week vacation, Nevada City is a destination of choice.

 
CSAC Snapshot Info

Official County Website