2 of Moapa Valley’s places are on the National Register
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #9 of 42 in Nevada. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Overton Gymnasium and the LDS Moapa Stake Office Building. Most of Moapa Valley was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1980.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Moapa Valley is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #9 of 42 in Nevada. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Moapa Valley’s overall grade.
Few Nevada towns list much on the Register (a typical Nevada town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Moapa Valley’s 3.0 sits above most of its state (71% of Nevada towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Moapa Valley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Moapa Valley was originally settled around 350 B.C. by the Ancestral Puebloan people (who used to be called Anasazi by early archeologists). Around 500 A.D., farming supplanted hunting as the major food source for the people known as "Basketmakers". It was also around this time that the art of pottery was introduced. By 600 A.D., Ancestral Puebloan people began building their dwellings above ground, using wood and brush plastered with adobe. Farming was a well-established practice with corn, beans, squash, and cotton being the primary crops. The Puebloans also hunted mule deer, desert bighorn sheep, rabbits, and rodents using bows and arrows.
Moapa Valley is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #9 of 42 in Nevada. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Moapa Valley?
Two places: the Overton Gymnasium (listed 1992) and the LDS Moapa Stake Office Building (2002).
How old are the homes in Moapa Valley?
6% of Moapa Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 0.3% for a Nevada town; the median home was built in 1990.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (10), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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