Amargosa Valley (2,664')

Also called "Amargosa Desert" and Lathrop Wells. An unincorporated valley community in southern Nye County. The name "Amargosa Valley" is the eponym for the town of Amargosa Valley.

The Amargosa Valley spans 45 miles north to south and about 12 miles east to west, sandwiched between US 95 on the north and east and the California state line on the west and south. The valley was named for its namesake Amargosa River, which runs underground the length of the valley. History is sketchy regarding when the first humans settled in the the valley; ancient campsites have been found that date back at least 10,000 years to the end of the last ice age. During the nineteenth century, two groups of Native Americans occupied the Amargosa Valley -- the Southern Paiute and the Western Shoshone. Both people were extremely adept at extracting a living from this very barren landscape subsisting on wild plant foods and supplemented by wild game. Much later, the valley became a part of a popular route for wagon trains en route to Death Valley around 1850.

The populated area of the Amargosa Valley centers around three areas -- the town of Beatty, the western residential edge of the valley, and the extreme southern end near Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and the Longstreet Casino. Some of the community's residential streets, and parts of the valley itself, cross over into California on the west. A portion of the northwestern edge of the valley even enters the boundary of Death Valley National Park. Two north-south routes, US 95 and SR 373, and two east-west trending routes, SR 374 and Amargosa Farm Road, serve residents of Amargosa Valley.

Demographic
Founded: 1890

Population: 1,456 (2010)

Zip Code: 89020

Motto: "The Jewel of Nye County"