Fernley, Nevada#History

File:School House--Chamber of Commerce.jpg

Fernley, established in 1904, developed as primarily an agricultural and ranching community in proximity to Reno. It is unknown why the name "Fernley" was applied to this community.

{{cite web|url=https://www.cityoffernley.org/index.aspx?NID=349 |title=Fernley's Name|publisher=City of Fernley |first=Guy |last=Rocha |access-date=2021-02-14}} It, along with the defunct settlement of Fernley, California are the only two known places in the world to have the name Fernley.

Much of the farmland in the Fernley area was developed through the Newlands Irrigation Project, which was a result of the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902. The project established an irrigation system that delivers water to an area stretching from Derby Dam, along the Truckee River, to the Lahontan Reservoir near Fallon, Nevada. Construction and expansion of the system took place from the inception through the 1960s. Many of the concrete irrigation headgates, still in use today, are embossed with the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) stamp and date of construction. In addition to the irrigation system in the Fernley area, a drainage system was also constructed to carry away excess water and mineral salts from the farmlands. This system consists of channels ({{convert|5|to|15|ft}} deep) dug adjacent to fields; it eventually terminates in the sink northeast of Fernley. The irrigation system is administered and maintained through the Truckee–Carson Irrigation District.

The Southern Pacific Railroad completed the Fernley and Lassen Railway in 1914. The transcontinental Lincoln/Victory Highways was built through town in the 1920s.

In 1965, the Nevada Cement Company[https://www.nevadacement.com/ Nevada Cement Company homepage] started operation in a new plant built on the north side of the city between Fernley and Wadsworth. This was the first significant non-agricultural/ranching business to come to Fernley, aside from the railroad. Primary employment in Fernley began a steady transition to an industrial and commuter base. Beginning in the 1970s, parts of the formerly agricultural and ranching-based lands were transitioning to housing subdivisions to support the growing population, much of which was spilling over from rapid growth in the Reno-Sparks area.{{Cite news|last=Maciag|first=Mike|date=October 30, 2017|title=Deep in the Desert, an Experiment in Economic Development|url=https://www.governing.com/archive/gov-industrial-parks-reno-tahoe.html|access-date=2021-02-14|work=Governing|publisher=e.Republic|language=en}} Close proximity to Interstate 80 and abundant land for housing made Fernley an attractive alternative to the increasingly congested and expensive Truckee Meadows housing market. Beginning near the established parts of the town, growth moved to the Fremont Street area in the mid to late 1970s, nearer farming areas in the 1980s, and has continued along the Farm District Road areas to the present. Numerous subdivisions were built along the Farm District Road, including an 18-hole golf course and a new elementary school.

In 1999, Amazon.com opened a {{Convert|750000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} order fulfillment center in the industrial park located in the northeast side of the city, following major initiatives and investments by investors from Seattle. Stanley Works had previously used the facility; Amazon.com moved west to Reno, NV and has redesigned the interior systems and greatly expanded the capacity in the years since. The investment has provided thousands of new jobs for the city and invigorated the economy in the metropolitan area. Since that time, more companies have opened facilities in the park, including Trex Inc., Allied Signal, UPS Worldwide Logistics (Honeywell), ARE Campers, Johns Manville. Sherwin Williams Paint and the newly constructed Polaris are part of the newer industrial area on the north east side of town, with more companies interested in relocating to the area.[https://www.cityoffernley.org/ Fernley, NV – Official Website]

On July 1, 2001, the city of Fernley was incorporated.{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/popest/geographic/boundary_changes/index.html |title=Boundary Changes |work=Geographic Change Notes: Nevada |publisher=Population Division, United States Census Bureau |date=2009-03-18 |access-date=2009-05-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806133317/http://www.census.gov/popest/geographic/boundary_changes/index.html |archive-date=2010-08-06 }} Fernley was one of the worst hit towns in the Great Recession.{{cite web |last1=Frank |first1=Dave |title=Hard-hit by recession Lyon County struggles with state's worst unemployment rate |url=https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/local/hard-hit-by-recession-lyon-county-struggles-with-states-worst-unemployment-rate/ |website=www.nevadaappeal.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224092914/https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/local/hard-hit-by-recession-lyon-county-struggles-with-states-worst-unemployment-rate/ |archive-date=2020-02-24 |url-status=live}}

On January 5, 2008, a levee along the Truckee Canal broke, forcing the rescue and evacuation of 3,500 people from the town as {{Convert|3|to|6|ft}} of water filled houses.{{cite news| url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/nevada-levee-breaks-3500-being-rescued | work=Fox News | title=Nevada Levee Breaks; 3,500 Being Rescued | date=2008-01-05}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/13286002.html |title=Hundreds Of Homes Flooded By Ruptured Levee |access-date=January 5, 2008 |archive-date=January 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080108085018/http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/13286002.html |url-status=dead }} A 2021 lawsuit seeks to block the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from lining the bottom of the Truckee Canal with concrete, on the grounds that Fernley's municipal water supply depends on seepage from the canal for groundwater recharge.{{Cite news|last=Sonner|first=Scott|date=2021-03-20|title=Feds want to fix canal, but Nevada town lives off the leaks|url=https://apnews.com/article/truckee-lawsuits-nevada-deserts-reno-69704fa63bf1fcae913091fc1a598f95|access-date=2021-03-20|work=AP NEWS}}

Fernley is located at the intersection of Interstate 80, U.S. Route 50 Alternate and U.S. Route 95 Alternate (US 95A). Although it originally spanned the Lyon/Washoe County line, a county boundary change in 2005 left it entirely in Lyon County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of {{convert|333.7|km2|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|316.3|sqkm|order=flip}} is land and {{convert|17.4|sqkm|order=flip}}, or 5.22%, is water.

Fernley's climate is typical of high desert environments. The winter may bring cold temperatures and some snow, but nothing extreme is normally experienced. Summers are generally hot and very dry. Fernley's average annual rainfall is {{convert|5|in|mm}}.

According to the Köppen climate classification, Fernley has a cold desert climate (abbreviated BWk).

{{Weather box

|location = Fernley, 1991–2020 simulated normals (4170 ft elevation)

|single line = y

|collapsed = yes

|precipitation colour =green

|Jan precipitation mm =21.96

|Feb precipitation mm =15.92

|Mar precipitation mm =15.75

|Apr precipitation mm =9.86

|May precipitation mm =16.42

|Jun precipitation mm =10.96

|Jul precipitation mm =7.49

|Aug precipitation mm =4.31

|Sep precipitation mm =6.81

|Oct precipitation mm =9.76

|Nov precipitation mm =11.00

|Dec precipitation mm =15.50

|Jan high C = 7.7

|Feb high C = 10.6

|Mar high C = 14.8

|Apr high C = 18.2

|May high C = 23.2

|Jun high C = 29.0

|Jul high C = 34.2

|Aug high C = 33.3

|Sep high C = 28.4

|Oct high C = 20.8

|Nov high C = 13.1

|Dec high C = 7.3

|Jan mean C =1.4

|Feb mean C =3.7

|Mar mean C =7.1

|Apr mean C =10.1

|May mean C =14.9

|Jun mean C =19.9

|Jul mean C =24.6

|Aug mean C =23.6

|Sep mean C =18.9

|Oct mean C =11.8

|Nov mean C =5.4

|Dec mean C =0.9

|Jan low C = -4.8

|Feb low C = -3.2

|Mar low C = -0.6

|Apr low C = 2.0

|May low C = 6.7

|Jun low C = 10.7

|Jul low C = 15.0

|Aug low C = 13.9

|Sep low C = 9.4

|Oct low C = 2.8

|Nov low C = -2.2

|Dec low C = -5.4

|Jan dew point C =-5.0

|Feb dew point C =-4.8

|Mar dew point C =-4.4

|Apr dew point C =-4.1

|May dew point C =-1.4

|Jun dew point C =0.0

|Jul dew point C =2.1

|Aug dew point C =1.0

|Sep dew point C =-0.9

|Oct dew point C =-2.8

|Nov dew point C =-4.6

|Dec dew point C =-5.5

|source 1 = PRISM Climate Group{{cite web

| url=https://prism.oregonstate.edu/explorer/

| title=PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University

| publisher=Northwest Alliance for Computational Science & Engineering (NACSE), based at Oregon State University

| access-date=March 16, 2023}}

| date=March 16, 2023}}

{{US Census population

| 1990 = 5164

| 2000 = 8543

| 2010 = 19368

| 2020 = 22895

| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}

}}

As of the census of 2010, there were 19,368 people, 7,048 households, and 5,206 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|158.6|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 7,975 housing units at an average density of {{convert|65.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 84.5% White, 1.0% Black or African American, 1.8% Native American, 6.0% Asian, 0.4% Pacific Islander, 5.7% some other race, and 4.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.4% of the population.{{cite web| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/1600000US3224900| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212153609/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/1600000US3224900| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 12, 2020| title=Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): Fernley city, Nevada| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder| access-date=January 25, 2013}}

There were 7,048 households, out of which 38.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were headed by married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 19.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74, and the average family size was 3.13.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.7% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.4 males.

For the period 2007–2011, the estimated median annual income for a household in the city was $52,572, and the median income for a family was $55,188. Male full-time workers had a median income of $51,081 versus $36,720 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,851. About 6.6% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 2.8% of those age 65 or over.{{cite web| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_5YR/DP03/1600000US3224900| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212085222/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_5YR/DP03/1600000US3224900| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 12, 2020| title=Selected Economic Characteristics: 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (DP03): Fernley city, Nevada| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder| access-date=January 25, 2013}}

Fernley is home to Fernley High School.[http://www.fhs.lyon.k12.nv.us/ Welcome to Fernley High School] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411140558/http://www.fhs.lyon.k12.nv.us/ |date=April 11, 2008 }}

Fernley High has extensive athletic programs, program centers and student clubs. It has a broad array of educational facilities including Fernley Adult Education Center. The school has drawn hundreds of international students since the 1990s.

The school has built a considerable number of sports facilities, including a football stadium, baseball field, track and field, basketball indoor arena, gymnasium, fitness center, etc. It has an extensive student meal program, dining hall and catering facilities.

Fernley High School was founded in the late 1950s. Its original buildings were located on the block now occupied by the In-Town Park, near the old downtown area between US 95A and Center Street; these were demolished in the early 1960s. Then until 1980, the high school was located at the current Fernley Intermediate School on Hardie Lane. Fernley High currently is located off US 95A on the south side of town.

Fernley is also home to Western Nevada College's satellite campus, providing vocational & college-level education.

Since 1990, Fernley has been the home of one of the two Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemeteries, the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery; with the other being the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery located in Boulder City.

{{Portal|Nevada}}

• Fernley Hills

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Fernley, Nevada}}

• {{Official website|https://www.cityoffernley.org}}

{{Lyon County, Nevada}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1904 establishments in Nevada

Category:Cities in Lyon County, Nevada

Category:Former census-designated places in Nevada

Category:Populated places established in 1904

Category:Cities in Nevada