Nevada is a city in and the county seat of Story County, Iowa, United States. The population was 6,658 at the 2000 census. It is also part of the 'Ames, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area', which is a part of the larger 'Ames-Boone, Iowa Combined Statistical Area'. The city's name is pronounced differently from the state of the same name: .

Geography

Nevada is located at (42.019152, -93.451775).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²), of which, 4.2 square miles (10.8 km²) of it is land and 0.24% is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,358 people, 2,716 households, and 1,787 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,594.7 people per square mile (615.0/km²). There were 2,882 housing units at an average density of 690.3/sq mi (266.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.97% White, 0.59% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.54% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.02% of the population.

There were 2,716 households out of which 33.07% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,527, and the median income for a family was $48,700. Males had a median income of $32,635 versus $24,680 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,392. About 3.9% of families and 5.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.4% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

The founding of Nevada

The town was founded October 12, 1853 by Johnson Edgar of Jasper County by appointment of the Iowa Legislature to find the county seat of Story County. The town's name, Nevada, was proposed by Joseph Thrift after the Sierra Nevada mountains. The naming of the town came a decade before naming of the state of Nevada.

The town was originally surveyed at 49 blocks in a square. This plat of 7 by 7 blocks had six east-west streets and six north-south streets. The east-west streets were named:

• Sixth Street (northern-most street)
• Fifth Street
• Fourth Street
• Third Street
• Second Street
• First Street (southern-most street)

And the north-south streets were named:

• Sycamore Street (western-most street)
• Walnut Street
• Chestnut Street
• Main Street
• Lynn Street
• Oak Street (eastern-most street)

The original block numbers were:

7	6	5	4	3	2	1
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
21	20	19	18	17	16	15
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
35	34	33	32	31	30	29
36	37	38	39	40	41	42
49	48	47	46	45	44	44

Notable natives and residents

• Billy Sunday
• Neva Patterson
• Daniel Selby

References

Further reading

• Nevada Community Historical Society, Inc. (2003). Voices from the Past: The Story of Nevada, Iowa, Its Community and Families. Unknown press (Nevada Community Historical Society, Inc., PO Box 213, Nevada, Iowa 50201-0213; 515-382-6684)

External links

• http://www.ci.nevada.ia.us/