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B−History
History · Panaca

Panaca dates to 1864, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1970 on.

1864founded
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Panaca’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Panaca began

When was Panaca founded?

1864

Panaca dates its founding to 1864 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1867.

2020 census: 870162 years

How historic is Panaca?

B−

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1867.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Panaca’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Panaca is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Panaca’s overall grade.
Founding era1864, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194033.9% of homes (±17.2) · typical NV town 0.3% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical NV town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 52%
NewerOlder

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 Panaca’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (29% of Nevada towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±17.2 points). Two sources give 1864.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Panaca’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Panaca’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Panaca’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Panaca’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Panaca came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Panaca.

Read it all →

The area that was to become the Panaca settlement was explored by Mormons in 1857. Brigham Young dispatched the explorers in order to locate a potential refuge in case of a U.S. military campaign against Utah. The location was selected due to the Meadow Valley oasis at the headwaters of the Muddy River. Mormon scouts began irrigation ditches and started fields, but the site was soon deserted after the feared violence never materialized. Panaca was the first permanent settlement by European Americans in southern Nevada. It was founded as a Mormon colony in 1864. It began as part of Washington County, Utah, but the congressional redrawing of boundaries in 1866 shifted Panaca into Nevada. It is the only community in Nevada to be "dry" (forbidding the sale of alcoholic beverages), and the only community in Nevada, besides Boulder City, that prohibits gambling.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Panaca, 1850 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Lincoln County - ED 9-4, ED 9-5,…
  3. 1864
    FoundingPanaca is established
  4. 1867Post officeThe Panaca post office opens
  5. 1885In the archiveNV Pioche Quad 1885 250000
  6. 20th century
  7. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Panaca, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1880s2 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Lincoln County - ED 9-4, ED 9-5, ED 9-6, ED 9-7, ED 9-818501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevad…NV Pioche Quad 1885 2500001885NV Pioche Quad 1885 250000
1890s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today16 recent
2015-01-15 11 27 22 View west at the west end of Nevada State Route 319 at U.S. Route 93 in20152015-01-15 11 27 22 View west at the west end of Neva…2015-01-15 11 25 48 View east from the west end of Nevada State Route 319 at U.S. Route 93 in20152015-01-15 11 25 48 View east from the west end of Ne…View W, Main Street, Panaca, NV, 20122012View W, Main Street, Panaca, NV, 2012View S, Main St. Panaca, NV - the Post Office, 20122012View S, Main St. Panaca, NV - the Post Office, 2012View N, Main Street, Panaca, NV - Panaca High School, 20122012View N, Main Street, Panaca, NV - Panaca High School,…View E, Main Street, Panaca, NV, 20122012View E, Main Street, Panaca, NV, 2012Seasonal Cheer, Panaca, NV, 20122012Seasonal Cheer, Panaca, NV, 2012Sclerocactus blainei RP 136 e2012Sclerocactus blainei RP 136 ePanaca Spring2011Panaca SpringPanaca Market2011Panaca MarketPanaca Elementary School2011Panaca Elementary SchoolPanaca - Court Rock 22011Panaca - Court Rock 2Panaca - Court Rock 12011Panaca - Court Rock 1Lincoln County High School2011Lincoln County High SchoolPanaca Church2010Panaca ChurchPanacaMercantileByPhilKonstantin2009PanacaMercantileByPhilKonstantin
On the map

Panaca on the map in 1970

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Panaca.

Panaca on the 1970 USGS map1970Panaca sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Panaca.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Lincoln County - ED 9-4, ED 9-5, ED 9-6, ED 9-7, ED 9-8
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Nevada - Lincoln County - ED 9-4, ED 9-5, ED 9-6, ED 9-7, ED 9-8, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Panaca’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Panaca’s history

What year was Panaca founded?

In 1864, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Panaca’s post office opened in 1867.

How does Panaca rank for history?

Panaca is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in Panaca?

34% of Panaca’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±17.2 points), against a typical 0.3% for a Nevada town; the median home was built in 1958.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (18), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.