Beowawe, Nevada

{{Infobox settlement

|name = Beowawe, Nevada

|settlement_type = Unincorporated community

|image_skyline = BeowaweGeothermalNV.jpg

|imagesize =

|image_caption = Beowawe geothermal power plant, 1996

|pushpin_map = Nevada#USA

|pushpin_label = Beowawe

|pushpin_label_position =

|pushpin_map_caption = Location of Beowawe, Nevada

|pushpin_mapsize =

|image_map =

|map_caption = Location within Eureka county

|image_map1 =

|mapsize1 =

|map_caption1 =

|subdivision_type = Country

|subdivision_name = United States

|subdivision_type1 = State

|subdivision_name1 = Nevada

|subdivision_type2 = County

|subdivision_name2 = Eureka

|government_footnotes =

|government_type =

|leader_title =

|leader_name =

|established_title =

|established_date =

|unit_pref = Imperial

|area_footnotes =

|area_magnitude =

|area_total_km2 =

|area_land_km2 =

|area_water_km2 =

|population_as_of = 2000

|population_footnotes =

|population_total =

|population_density_km2 = auto

|timezone = Pacific (PST)

|utc_offset = -8

|timezone_DST = PDT

|utc_offset_DST = -7

|elevation_footnotes =

|elevation_ft = 4695

|coordinates = {{coord|40|35|34|N|116|28|38|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}

|postal_code_type = ZIP codes

|postal_code =

|area_code =

|blank_name = FIPS code

|blank_info =

|blank1_name = GNIS feature ID

|blank1_info = 856191{{GNIS|856191}}

|website =

|footnotes =

}}

Beowawe ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|b|eɪ|oʊ-|ˈ|w|ɑː|ˌ|w|iː}} {{respell|bay-ə|WAH|wee}}) is a small town in Eureka County, Nevada, United States.

Description

The community is the site of a mining operation and a geothermal power plant, and has a public library. Beowawe is a Paiute Native American word meaning "gate", so named for the peculiar shape of the hills close to town which gives the effect of a gateway opening to the valley beyond.{{cite book | url=http://dwgateway.library.unr.edu/keck/histtopoNV/Origin_of_Place_Names_Files/1941NevadaOriginofNames-pt1.pdf | title=Origin of Place Names: Nevada | publisher=W.P.A. | author=Federal Writers' Project | year=1941 | pages=33}} The town is located at an elevation of {{convert|4695|ft}}, and is situated on State Route 306 {{convert|5|mi|0}} south of Interstate 80. The Humboldt River runs through northern Nevada near Beowawe. At approximately {{convert|300|mi}} long, it is the second longest river in the arid Great Basin of North America. It has no outlet to the ocean, but instead empties into the Humboldt Sink.

History

Beowawe was founded in 1868 with the arrival of the railroad. Gravelly Ford, a noted site on the California Trail, is about six miles east of Beowawe{{cite web |title=Gravelly Ford Unknown Emigrant Graves |publisher=Oregon-California Trails Association |url=https://octa-trails.org/people-places/gravelly-ford-unknown-emigrant-graves/ |access-date=April 1, 2024}} on Pioneer Pass Road. The famous "Maiden's Grave" marker overlooks the ford. A tall cross in the Beowawe cemetery commemorates the burial of Lucinda Duncan,{{cite book| title=Around the World on a Bicycle - Volume I From San Francisco to Teheran| last=Stevens |first=Thomas| year=1887| chapter=2}} a grandmother who died on the trail in 1863. Workers building the Central Pacific Railroad first noted the grave along the Humboldt River, and in 1906, it was moved to the hillside cemetery when the Union Pacific realigned its tracks.{{cite book| last=Brown| first=Randy| title=Graves and Sites on the Oregon and California Trails| year=1991| publisher=Oregon-California Trails Association| location=Independence, MO| pages=114–115| last2=Duffin| first2=Reg. P.}} The town reached its peak around 1881 with a population of 60 people. It consisted of an elementary school, church, post office, store, and library. In 1909, a power plant was built but, like many ghost towns, the boom had ended by 1916 and many of the residents had moved on. Currently, Beowawe is once again tied to energy production, the home to both a geothermal power plant and a large propane tank farm near the railroad.

Geothermal system at Beowawe

The surface expression of the geothermal system consists of a "{{convert|215|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}}, {{convert|1|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} opaline sinter terrace produced by hot spring and natural geyser (sic fumarole) activity along the base of the Malpais Rim. Since 1959, several companies have tested the potential of the area as a source of steam for electrical power generation. The spectacular hot water and steam plume that are present at(1985/1986) vents continuously along the top of the sinter terrace is not a natural geyser, but is a free-flowing, uncapped geothermal well." (Struhsacker, 1986, p. 111).{{cite journal |last1=Struhsacker |first1=D.W. |date=1986 |title=Geology and Mineralization of the Beowawe-White Canyon Area, Eureka and Lander Counties, Nevada |url=http://pubs.nbmg.unr.edu/Precious-metal-min-hot-springs-p/r041.htm |journal=Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Report |volume=41 |issue=Precious-metal mineralization in hot springs systems, Nevada-California |pages=108–116 |editor1-last=Tingley |editor1-first=Joseph V. |editor2-last=Bonham |editor2-first=Harold F. Jr. }}

Photos of hot springs and fumaroles – photos '9-67' (1931) and '9-56' (date unknown) – show hydrothermal activity prior to power-generation.{{cite web |url=http://elkorose.schopine.com/geysers.html |title=Beowawe Geysers |author= |website=elkorose.schopine.com |publisher=Elko Rose Garden Association |access-date=1 January 2018 }} It is unknown if those smaller hydrothermal surface features are still active as of 2015, post-power plant development; field reconnaissance would be required to assess the activity of the hydrothermal features. Photos '9-69' (close-up, date unknown) and '9-108' (distant, 1971) show the uncapped well that is not a natural geyser, which was active prior to power-production. Geyser activity at the wellhead ceased circa 1985/1986 as the local dual-flash geothermal power plant began operations.{{cite web|url=http://nevadanscleanenergy.org/energy-nevada-tale-three-power-plants |title=Energy in Nevada: Tale of three power plants |access-date=2014-04-15 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416213443/http://nevadanscleanenergy.org/energy-nevada-tale-three-power-plants/ |archive-date=2014-04-16 }}

The man-made geyser at Beowawe in central Nevada is similar to Fly Geyser in northwestern Nevada in that both were artificially produced by geothermal drilling, but the former area was developed for clean energy production{{Cite web |url=http://www.terra-genpower.com/Projects/Projects_Geothermal.aspx |title=Geothermal Projects; Beowawe |access-date=2015-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216204615/http://www.terra-genpower.com/Projects/Projects_Geothermal.aspx |archive-date=2015-02-16 |url-status=dead }} and the latter area was not. Another striking difference between the localities is an aesthetic one: more travertine has precipitated from the hydrothermal fluids at Fly Geyser than at Beowawe, generating spectacular mounds at Fly Geyser's uncapped wellhead, thus suggesting dissimilar water chemistry between the two geothermal systems.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Beowawe has a cool semi-arid climate (Köppen type BSk).

{{Weather box

|location = Beowawe

|single line = Y

|collapsed = yes

| Jan record high F = 69

| Feb record high F = 72

| Mar record high F = 79

| Apr record high F = 90

| May record high F = 98

| Jun record high F = 105

| Jul record high F = 108

| Aug record high F = 108

| Sep record high F = 101

| Oct record high F = 92

| Nov record high F = 85

| Dec record high F = 78

| year record high F = 108

| Jan high F = 40.3

| Feb high F = 45.7

| Mar high F = 54.4

| Apr high F = 63.1

| May high F = 72.8

| Jun high F = 82.4

| Jul high F = 92.4

| Aug high F = 90.5

| Sep high F = 81.1

| Oct high F = 68

| Nov high F = 52.3

| Dec high F = 41.3

| year high F = 65.4

| Jan low F = 14

| Feb low F = 20.1

| Mar low F = 25.6

| Apr low F = 30.3

| May low F = 37.3

| Jun low F = 44.2

| Jul low F = 50.5

| Aug low F = 47.4

| Sep low F = 38.3

| Oct low F = 29.2

| Nov low F = 21.5

| Dec low F = 14.9

| year low F = 31.1

| Jan record low F = -35

| Feb record low F = -36

| Mar record low F = -7

| Apr record low F = 7

| May record low F = 10

| Jun record low F = 19

| Jul record low F = 26

| Aug record low F = 24

| Sep record low F = 12

| Oct record low F = 1

| Nov record low F = -14

| Dec record low F = -43

| year record low F = -43 | precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation inch = 0.78

| Feb precipitation inch = 0.62

| Mar precipitation inch = 0.64

| Apr precipitation inch = 0.77

| May precipitation inch = 1.02

| Jun precipitation inch = 0.71

| Jul precipitation inch = 0.29

| Aug precipitation inch = 0.33

| Sep precipitation inch = 0.38

| Oct precipitation inch = 0.55

| Nov precipitation inch = 0.7

| Dec precipitation inch = 0.75

| year precipitation inch = 7.53

| Jan precipitation days = 5

| Feb precipitation days = 5

| Mar precipitation days = 5

| Apr precipitation days = 4

| May precipitation days = 5

| Jun precipitation days = 3

| Jul precipitation days = 2

| Aug precipitation days = 2

| Sep precipitation days = 2

| Oct precipitation days = 3

| Nov precipitation days = 4

| Dec precipitation days = 4

| Jan snow inch = 5.3

| Feb snow inch = 3.2

| Mar snow inch = 2.2

| Apr snow inch = 1.2

| May snow inch = 0

| Jun snow inch = 0

| Jul snow inch = 0

| Aug snow inch = 0

| Sep snow inch = 0

| Oct snow inch = 0.2

| Nov snow inch = 1.4

| Dec snow inch = 3.9

| year snow inch = 17.5

|source 1 = WRCC{{cite web

|url=http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?nv0795 |title=BEOWAWE, NEVADA (260795) |access-date=November 18, 2015 |publisher=Western Regional Climate Center }}

|date=July 201

}}

References

External links

[http://www.co.eureka.nv.us/ Eureka County website]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20100718135753/http://www.elkocountylibrary.org/beowawebranch.htm Beowawe Branch Library]
[http://www.elkorose.com/beowawe.html Elko County Rose Garden - Beowawe website]
[http://www.elkorose.com/geysers.html Elko County Rose Garden - Beowawe Geysers]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20050311235220/http://www.caithnessenergy.com/geothermal.html#beow Caithness Energy - Beowawe Geothermal Project site]

Category:Unincorporated communities in Nevada

Category:Populated places established in 1868

Category:Unincorporated communities in Eureka County, Nevada

Category:1868 establishments in Nevada