Editing Lovelock, Nevada

{{short description|Incorporated city in Nevada, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Lovelock, Nevada
| settlement_type    = [[Incorporated city]]

<!-- Images -->| image_skyline      = 2015-04-18 11 52 58 View northwest along Main Street (Nevada State Route 398) near the Central Pacific Railroad Depot in Lovelock, Nevada.jpg
| image_caption      = Main Street in Lovelock NV
| image_flag         = 
| image_seal         = LovelockNHseal.png
| image_map          = Pershing County Nevada Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Lovelock Highlighted.svg
| mapsize1           = 250px
| map_caption1       = Location of Lovelock, Nevada
| pushpin_map        = Nevada#USA
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Nevada##Location in the United States
| pushpin_label      = Lovelock

<!-- Location -->| coordinates        = {{coord|40|10|48|N|118|28|36|W|region:US-NV|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = United States
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Nevada]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in Nevada|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Pershing County, Nevada|Pershing]]
| established_title  = 
| established_date   = 
| leader_title       = 
| leader_name        = <!-- Area -->
| unit_pref          = Imperial
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=September 19, 2022}}</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 2.23
| area_land_km2      = 2.23
| area_water_km2     = 0.00
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.00
| area_total_sq_mi   = 0.86
| area_land_sq_mi    = 0.86
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 1213
| elevation_ft       = 3980
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total   = 1805
| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| pop_est_as_of      = 
| pop_est_footnotes  = 
| population_est     = 
| population_density_km2 = 809.34
| population_density_sq_mi = 2096.40
| timezone           = [[Pacific Time Zone|Pacific (PST)]]
| utc_offset         = -8
| timezone_DST       = PDT
| utc_offset_DST     = -7
| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code        = 89419
| area_code          = [[Area code 775|775]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]<br>[[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] ID
| blank_info         = 32-43000<br>0848577
| website            = {{URL|http://www.cityoflovelock.com}}
}}

'''Lovelock''' is the county seat of [[Pershing County, Nevada]], United States, in which it is the only incorporated city.

It is the namesake of a nearby [[Lovelock Correctional Center|medium-security men's prison]] and a [[Cold War]]-era [[Lovelock Aerial Gunnery Range|gunnery range]].

Formerly a stop for [[California gold rush|settlers on their way]] to [[California]] and later a train depot, the town's economy remains based on farming, mining and increasingly on tourism.

==History==
The area in which the township of Lovelock was to be established first came to prominence as a midpoint on the [[Humboldt Trail]] to California. According to an 1849 description of what were then called the Big Meadows, "This marsh for three miles is certainly the liveliest place that one could witness in a lifetime. There is some two hundred and fifty wagons here all the time. Trains going out and others coming in and taking their places is the constant order of the day. Cattle and mules by the hundreds are surrounding us, in grass to their knees, all discoursing sweet music with the grinding of their jaws.”<ref>Quoted in David W. Toll, ''A brief Description & History of Lovelock, Nevada'', [http://www.nevadaweb.com/cnt/cc/lovelock.html available online]</ref>

A few settlers stopped there to harvest the wild rye growing in the meadows and scythe the hay each fall, which they sold. Arriving there from California in 1866, the English settler George Lovelock (1824–1907) bought the squatters' right for {{convert|320|acres|0|abbr=on}} and received with it the oldest water rights on the Humboldt River.

Although born in [[Wales]], Lovelock was from an English family of [[Wiltshire]] origin that is known to family historians as the Lyneham Line.<ref>Sue Lovelock, ''From Wiltshire to Nevada – tracing the Lovelock connection'', Lovelock Lines 4, January 2006 [http://lovelock.free.fr/l-lines/lovelock-lines-4th-ed.pdf pp.3-5]</ref> His brother Daniel moved to [[Australia]]—and one of Daniel's sons to [[New Zealand]]—so that the relations of the man after whom the Nevada town was named are now widely scattered.

The town's foundation came about with the building of the [[Central Pacific Railroad]] through the area in August 1868. George Lovelock provided {{convert|85|acres|0|abbr=on}} for the site, so the depot was named 'Lovelock's' after him and appears as such on old maps.<ref>An early example is on Mitchell's [[:File:1872 Mitchell Map of Utah and Nevada - Geographicus - UTNV-mitchell-1872.jpg|map of Nevada]] (1872)</ref>

Thereafter he put his mining expertise to work and discovered many valuable lodes in the surrounding area, which contributed to increased railway traffic. He also acted as the town's first postmaster and invested in hotels. In particular, he was the first proprietor of the Big Meadows Hotel on Main Street, adjacent to the train station. That was eventually adapted as the [[Greyhound Lines|Greyhound Bus]] depot.

By 1900, the town of Lovelock had a school, churches and a business district along what was then called Railway Street—later renamed West Broadway.<ref>Thomas Wren, ''A History of the State of Nevada: Its Resources and People'', Lewis Publishing Company, 1904 [http://www.ksgennet.org/nv/pr/bios/lovelockgeorge.html available online]</ref> Also included among the businesses were three weekly newspapers: The ''Lovelock Tribune'', which ran from May 1898 until February 1912; the short-lived ''Lovelock Standard'' (April–September 1900); and ''The Argus'' (May 1900-Jan 1905). In August 1908 the weekly ''Lovelock Review'' was founded, becoming ''Lovelock Review-Miner'' in January 1911 and remaining under that name to the present day.<ref>Richard E. Lingenfelter, Karen Rix Gash, ''The newspapers of Nevada: a history and bibliography, 1854-1979'', University of Nevada, 1984 [https://books.google.com/books?id=PQqhz7JSQZUC&q=lovelock+&pg=PA146 pp.144-7]</ref>

Lovelock was incorporated as a city in 1917. In 1919 it was named the county seat when [[Pershing County, Nevada|Pershing County]] was organized, carved out of the southern part of Humboldt County. Its famous round Court House was built at the end of Main Street, on the former site of a school that had been relocated.

While mining and agriculture were the base of the economy, the community thrived on the state specialty of gambling. It had many casinos and [[List of brothels in Nevada|three legalized brothels]]; all of the latter are now closed.

The town's centenary was celebrated in 1968 with a Frontier Days theme suggested by two of the founder's great-great granddaughters, Elaine Pommerening and Pat Rowe, who had recently moved back to Lovelock. This was part of the more recent emphasis on heritage tourism.

In 1983, [[Nevada State Route 396|old U.S. Route 40]] through downtown was bypassed by [[Interstate 80 in Nevada|Interstate 80]], which pulled business from the center. In the early 1990s the rail depot closed. Since then, the city has promoted its heritage tourist attractions, emphasizing its historic buildings and organizing special events.

Several mining booms have taken place in the neighboring mountains. These included intensive activity in the [[Rochester, Nevada|Rochester]] and [[Seven Troughs Range|Seven Troughs]] areas at the start of the 20th century, and subsequent drilling with more advanced techniques later in Rochester. The Coeur Rochester mine began further open cast mining for silver and gold in 2011.<ref>[http://www.coeur.com/operations/rochester-nevada#.UkQ_Nn-57ec Coeur.com]</ref> Test drilling for gold continues at Relief Canyon,<ref>[http://www.pershinggold.com/projects/relief-canyon-mine-project-nevada Pershing Gold Co.]</ref> and [[diatomite]] is dug at the Colado Mine.<ref>[http://mines.findthedata.org/l/40370/Colado-Mine Mine data online] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130926150048/http://mines.findthedata.org/l/40370/Colado-Mine |date=2013-09-26 }}</ref>

==Geography==
Lovelock lies in the [[Humboldt River]] Basin, very near the terminus of the river. Some 20 miles outside the town is the [[Lovelock Cave|Lovelock Native Cave]], a horseshoe-shaped cave of about {{convert|35|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=mid|width}} and {{convert|150|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=mid|length}} where [[Northern Paiute]] natives anciently deposited a number of duck decoys and other artifacts.<ref>[http://www.nevadabeautiful.com/pony-express/lovelock-caves-lovelock-nevada.html "Lovelock Caves, Lovelock Nevada"] NevadaBeautiful.com, Retrieved 14 February 2010.</ref>

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|0.9|sqmi|km2}}, all of it land. It has four differently designed welcome signs with pioneer and [[Wild West]] themes placed on its approach roads. At the southern end of town is the 20-acre reservation of the [[Lovelock Paiute Tribe of the Lovelock Indian Colony|Lovelock Paiute Tribe]], which has recently profited from [[Cannabis in Nevada|a change in state law]] to open a [[marijuana]] dispensary there.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/pg/LOVELOCK115/about/?ref=page_internal Facebook]</ref>

===Climate===

According to the [[Köppen Climate Classification]] system, Lovelock has a [[cold desert climate]], abbreviated "BWk" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Lovelock was {{convert|112|°F}} on July 5, 2007, while the coldest temperature recorded was {{convert|-38|°F}} on January 25, 1949.<ref name=NOWData />

{{Weather box
|location = Lovelock, Nevada ([[Derby Field]]), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1948–present
|single line = Yes

|Jan record high F = 68
|Feb record high F = 75
|Mar record high F = 83
|Apr record high F = 93
|May record high F = 102
|Jun record high F = 107
|Jul record high F = 110
|Aug record high F = 107
|Sep record high F = 106
|Oct record high F = 97
|Nov record high F = 80
|Dec record high F = 72

|Jan avg record high F = 57.9
|Feb avg record high F = 65.1
|Mar avg record high F = 74.7
|Apr avg record high F = 83.2
|May avg record high F = 92.3
|Jun avg record high F = 100.3
|Jul avg record high F = 105.0
|Aug avg record high F = 102.5
|Sep avg record high F = 96.9
|Oct avg record high F = 85.2
|Nov avg record high F = 70.1
|Dec avg record high F = 60.1
|year avg record high F = 105.5

|Jan high F = 45.2
|Feb high F = 52.0
|Mar high F = 61.1
|Apr high F = 67.5
|May high F = 76.7
|Jun high F = 87.3
|Jul high F = 96.1
|Aug high F = 93.8
|Sep high F = 84.9
|Oct high F = 70.7
|Nov high F = 55.3
|Dec high F = 44.4
|year high F =

|Jan mean F = 32.6
|Feb mean F = 38.1
|Mar mean F = 44.9
|Apr mean F = 50.5
|May mean F = 59.4
|Jun mean F = 68.1
|Jul mean F = 75.9
|Aug mean F = 73.3
|Sep mean F = 64.8
|Oct mean F = 52.5
|Nov mean F = 39.9
|Dec mean F = 31.7
|year mean F =

|Jan low F = 20.0
|Feb low F = 24.2
|Mar low F = 28.6
|Apr low F = 33.4
|May low F = 42.1
|Jun low F = 48.9
|Jul low F = 55.7
|Aug low F = 52.7
|Sep low F = 44.8
|Oct low F = 34.2
|Nov low F = 24.5
|Dec low F = 18.9
|year low F =

|Jan avg record low F = 3.1
|Feb avg record low F = 9.4
|Mar avg record low F = 13.7
|Apr avg record low F = 19.1
|May avg record low F = 28.2
|Jun avg record low F = 36.9
|Jul avg record low F = 45.6
|Aug avg record low F = 40.9
|Sep avg record low F = 30.8
|Oct avg record low F = 18.2
|Nov avg record low F = 8.5
|Dec avg record low F = 1.8
|year avg record low F = -2.8

|Jan record low F = -38
|Feb record low F = -25
|Mar record low F = -2
|Apr record low F = 8
|May record low F = 17
|Jun record low F = 26
|Jul record low F = 37
|Aug record low F = 30
|Sep record low F = 20
|Oct record low F = 5
|Nov record low F = -3
|Dec record low F = -28

|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 0.76
|Feb precipitation inch = 0.55
|Mar precipitation inch = 0.52
|Apr precipitation inch = 00.62
|May precipitation inch = 0.86
|Jun precipitation inch = 0.55
|Jul precipitation inch = 0.16
|Aug precipitation inch = 0.15
|Sep precipitation inch = 0.29
|Oct precipitation inch = 0.51
|Nov precipitation inch = 0.50
|Dec precipitation inch = 0.64
|year precipitation inch =

|Jan snow inch = 3.7
|Feb snow inch = 1.5
|Mar snow inch = 1.0
|Apr snow inch = 0.6
|May snow inch = 0.2
|Jun snow inch = 0.0
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 0.0
|Oct snow inch = 0.1
|Nov snow inch = 0.7
|Dec snow inch = 3.6
|year snow inch =

|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
|Jan precipitation days = 6.1
|Feb precipitation days = 4.8
|Mar precipitation days = 4.2
|Apr precipitation days = 4.4
|May precipitation days = 4.8
|Jun precipitation days = 3.2
|Jul precipitation days = 1.8
|Aug precipitation days = 1.5
|Sep precipitation days = 2.0
|Oct precipitation days = 3.0
|Nov precipitation days = 3.6
|Dec precipitation days = 5.1

|unit snow days = 0.1 in
|Jan snow days = 2.6
|Feb snow days = 0.9
|Mar snow days = 0.8
|Apr snow days = 0.2
|May snow days = 0.0
|Jun snow days = 0.0
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.0
|Oct snow days = 0.0
|Nov snow days = 0.7
|Dec snow days = 2.3

|source 1 = NOAA<ref name=NOAA>
{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00264698&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title = U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access
|access-date = September 17, 2022
}}
</ref>
|source 2 = National Weather Service<ref name = NOWData>
{{cite web
|url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/Climate?wfo=rev
|publisher = National Weather Service
|title = NOAA Online Weather Data
|access-date = September 17, 2022
}}
</ref>
}}

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1910= 1104
|1920= 1263
|1930= 1294
|1940= 1604
|1950= 1948
|1960= 1571
|1970= 1680
|1980= 2069
|1990= 2003
|2000= 1894
|2010= 2236
|2020= 1805
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{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}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2000, there were 2,003 people, 778 households, and 493 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|2,311.6|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 951 housing units at an average density of {{convert|1,097.5|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 76.49% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.80% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 7.14% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.70% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.20% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 10.03% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 4.64% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 24.21% of the population.

There were 778 households, out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.8% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.22.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.2% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $39,563, and the median income for a family was $44,885. Males had a median income of $38,658 versus $20,371 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $17,233. About 9.6% of families and 19.2% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 19.3% of those age 65 or over. The majority rely on agriculture and mining for their income.

==Economy==
===Tourism===
[[File:Pershingcourt.JPG|thumb|right|Pershing County Court House in Lovelock]]

Among the tourist events figure the I.D.E.S. Portuguese festival in May and what became the annual Frontier Days weekend in July. There are also hot air balloon races (Lovers Aloft, inaugurated in February 2004) and the Lovelock Street Fever car show, begun in June 2007. A major draw is the Lovers Lock Plaza in the shaded area at the back of the Court House where couples symbolise their love by [[Love locks|attaching a padlock to an 'endless chain']], a practice begun on Valentine's Day, 2005.<ref name=CoC>{{cite web |url=http://loverslock.com/ |title=The perfect romantic gift idea. "Locking your love" in Lovelock, Nevada. |publisher=Lovelock/Pershing County Chamber of Commerce |access-date=2010-05-17}}</ref> The following year saw the construction of a dirt-racing track known as the Lovelock Speedway.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Lovelock's heritage buildings include the wooden built Grace Methodist Church on the corner of Cornell Avenue and 8th Street, dating from 1886. It was destroyed by fire in 1922 and the tower was rebuilt without the original spire; in 1983 the church was badly damaged by another fire and was restored again. [[Marzen House]] Museum is another Victorian building, built in 1874. The Italianate farmhouse was transported from Big Meadow Ranch in the 1980s and has on its site an assay office, farm machinery sheds, and buildings housing vintage automobiles, while inside it contains 1800s furnishings and a museum, shedding light on the area's history.<ref>[http://museums.travelnevada.com/destination/marzen-house-museum.aspx Online information]</ref>

The Longhorn Bar beside the tracks on West Broadway is one of the few remaining commercial buildings in typical Nevada style. Not far away is the [[Central Pacific Railroad Depot (Lovelock, Nevada)|railroad depot]] dating from 1880. In 1999 it was presented to the town by the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] to be restored and moved to another lot for use as an eatery. This was registered as a historic building in 2004.<ref>{{NRHP url|id=04000300|title=Registration online}}</ref>

The [[Pershing County Courthouse]] was built in 1919. Pershing County officials approached [[Frederic Joseph DeLongchamps]], by then the architect of six Nevada courthouses, and asked for a design that would be low in price but distinctive in appearance. As a solution, DeLongchamps designed a round courthouse, patterning it after [[Thomas Jefferson Library|Thomas Jefferson's library]] at the [[University of Virginia]] campus. The circle-over-hexagon design includes a circular interior hallway and a round courtroom decorated with [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]] [[pilasters]]. A broad, sweeping concrete staircase leads to the main floor of the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts classical structure]]. Its entrance includes a pedimented portico supported by six [[Ionic order|Ionic]] columns. [[Doric order|Doric]] pilasters separate the main story windows. Cream-colored brick and [[terracotta]] finish the exterior. A shallow dome crowns the roof and provides the courtroom with a dramatic, soaring ceiling.'<ref>Julie Nicoletta, ''Buildings of Nevada'', Oxford University Press USA, 2000, {{ISBN|0-19-514139-3}}</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[Alan Bible]], lawyer and politician
*[[Robert Heizer]], archaeologist
*[[Joseph Lang]], US Boxing team in the Los Angeles (1932) Olympic Games 
*[[Adrian C. Louis]], poet
*[[Wayde Preston]], actor
*[[Edna Purviance]], actress
*[[Charles H. Russell]], Governor of Nevada, 1951-1959
*[[Sarah Winnemucca]], champion of the Paiute tribe, founded the Peabody Indian School in Lovelock
*[[Clarence Clifton Young]], lawyer and politician

==Lovelock in the arts==
[[File:CowpokeCafeLovelock.jpg|thumb|Cowpoke Cafe in Lovelock]]

===Songs===
Lovelock, with a population never much more than 2000, will generally be noticed only as a town passed on the way to somewhere else. Thus the debut album of the folk-rock band Center Divide, ''Lovelock to Winnemucca'' (1999), takes its title from a desert section of the [[Interstate 80 in Nevada|I-80 highway]] and the opening track, simply titled “Lovelock”, takes its inspiration from the passing landscape.<ref>Murrday Fisher review, [https://www.allmusic.com/album/lovelock-to-winnemucca-mw0000007689 All Music]</ref> On the other hand, an interrupted journey is the subject of the [[Hot Buttered Rum (band)|Hot Buttered Rum]] string band's "Limbo in Lovelock" (''Live in the Northeast'' 2007), where a motor breakdown leads to an enforced stop in the town and a visit to the local eatery, the Cowpoke Café.<ref>Full lyrics [http://www.morebutter.net/missyslist/song_details.php?id=29 online]</ref><ref>There is a performance on the [https://archive.org/details/HBRSB2005-06-24.flac16 Internet Live Music Archive]</ref>

===Poetry and fiction===
Lovelock has had a poet of its own in [[Adrian C. Louis]], who was brought up on the small reservation for the Lovelock Paiute Indians there. Even after he moved on, its Indian Cemetery was a point of reference for him to which he often returned in memory:
:::I'm at that place I grew up to leave.
:::Alkali-crusted [[sand waves]] have drifted against my markers of blood.<ref>"Indian Cemetery: Lovelock, Nevada", ''Fire Water World'', Albuquerque NM, 1989 ({{ISBN|0931122511}} / 0-931122-51-1)</ref> 
Other poems in which the town's name figures record the impressions of passing travellers. They include Shaun T Griffin's broadside, "Rain outside Lovelock, late March”<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/700278898 Black Rock Press (Reno, 2010)]</ref> and two titles in the work of Kirk Robertson. "Lovelock to Twin Falls" dwells on abandoned shacks in the desert while “Monday Night, Lovelock” focuses on houses there surrounded by junk.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9myVDwAAQBAJ&q=Lovelock+to+Twin+Falls Literary Nevada: Writings from the Silver State], University of Nevada, 2016</ref>

[[Stephen Bly]]'s Wild West novel ''Dangerous Ride Across Humboldt Flats'' (Crossway Press, 2003) deals with the area along the river before the town was built. In the opening chapters, an orphaned [[Pony Express]] rider comes across Trent Lovelock and his family on Humboldt Flats in 1860 and is befriended by them.<ref>The first two chapters are currently available [http://www.gnpcb.org/assets/products/excerpts/1581344724.1.pdf online]</ref> The author has acknowledged that he had the town's later founder in mind in his fictitious Trent Lovelock.<ref>“Lovelock Avatars”, ''Lovelock Lines'' 6, December 2007 [http://lovelock.free.fr/l-lines/lovelock-lines-6th-ed.pdf p.7]</ref>

Another novel, ''Lovelock, Nevada: an explanation'' (Booklocker, 2010) by Leslie Hale Roberts, plays another variation on the transient theme, starting with a breakdown in the desert.<ref>Detail on [https://www.amazon.co.uk/LOVELOCK-NEVADA-Leslie-Hale-Roberts/dp/160910188X Amazon]</ref> And a stopover in the town was the subject of Fred Leebron's prize-winning short story “Lovelock”, later adapted into his novel ''Out West'' (Doubleday 1996). There an ex-convict staying overnight at a motel picks up a retarded woman and guiltily sees her and her sister off in their car the next morning.<ref>[https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/engfac/7 The Cupola, Gettysburg College]</ref>

===Painting and sculpture===
Lovelock's connection with the figurative arts has most often been the result of artists passing through the area and recording something that had caught their eye. One of the earliest such travellers was [[Thomas Moran]], who caught the train south along the recently completed Central Pacific line in 1876 and sketched a thunderstorm over the nearby Humboldt Plain.<ref>[https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/AdtKjEWXJYRJw9K7HbrS0Drkjw3Q2xsL7z-9PJt8zbysVDPBVs88EaMruHt7yTR7tIJjH3IvlA4DpyTDZG29MtAYEP62DEHG Google image]</ref><ref>Thurman Wilkins,  ''Thomas Moran: Artist of the Mountains'', University of Oklahoma 1998, [https://books.google.com/books?id=y6cPCH_V2zMC p.111]</ref>

For later artists their local work was the result of travelling the country to create a series on a chosen theme. They have included a watercolor in Bethany Lee's 2016 landscapes with a focus on their vegetation,<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155415130872476&set=a.10155304166152476&type=3&theatre "Mown Hay" on the artist’s website]</ref> a view in Jessica Joy Jirsa's road sign series from 2018,<ref>[https://www.jjjirsa.com/featured_item/sign-series-tractor-crossing-2 "Tractor Crossing" on the artist’s website]</ref> and a casino restaurant in Jody Litton's continuing series recording the vernacular architecture of California and adjoining states.<ref>[https://jodylitton.com/lovelock-nv/sturgeons "Sturgeons" (2007), on the artist’s website]</ref> The landscape photographer [[John Pfahl]] also stopped by the town in 1978 to create two works: a shot of the "Lovelock Seed Co." at its southern end<ref>[https://collections.artsmia.org/art/22256/lovelock-seed-company-lovelock-nevada-john-pfahl Minneapolis Institute of Arts]</ref> and "Lovelock gas station" at the north end.<ref>[https://www.moca.org/collection/work/lovelock-gas-station-lovelock-nevada Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art]</ref>

Other painters were commissioned to create works in the town. [[Ejnar Hansen (painter)|Ejnar Hansen]]  was invited by the [[Federal Art Project]] to paint a mural in the newly completed post-office building in 1940 and chose the discovery of the [[Comstock Lode]] as a local subject.<ref>[https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/NV-01-NO07 Society of Architectural Historians]</ref> In 1944 the gaming artist Franz Trevors (1907–80) was commissioned to paint six large canvases on Western subjects by a member of the local gambling industry and these were later installed in the casino at Felix's Bank Club on Main Street. For the main part the paintings were based on subjects by [[Charles Marion Russell]] but with original details of the artist's own.<ref>[https://holabirdamericana.liveauctiongroup.com/item.aspx?i=26106745&mobile=0 Holabird Western American Collections]</ref>

Some artists have also chosen to live in Lovelock for a while. Among these was Buck Nimy (1906/11 – 1959), who made black and white drawings of cowboy subjects, some featuring local scenery after he settled in the town about 1940.<ref>[https://www.nevadafineart.com/sold/buck-nimy Nevada Fine Art]</ref> More recently there has been Maggie Remington, whose speciality is to dig her own pigments from the desert earth to create her abstract designs.<ref>"Lovelock artist uses dirt to paint the earth", ''Inside Northern Nevada'', [https://insidenorthernnevada.com/PrintArticle.aspx?aid=33278&uid=aa11f5a4-8460-42fc-83f9-3b1441fb7c24 17 May, 2017]</ref> Also living there is Don Bridges, who was commissioned to create a memorial for the Emigrant Trail across the [[Lahontan Valley#Forty Mile Desert|Forty-Mile Desert]] in 2016. Featuring steel reliefs of three oxen and a wagon, it was installed at the 105 freeway exit south of Lovelock, where it was also visible from trains passing nearby.<ref>"Lovelock history monument taking shape", ''Inside Northern Nevada'',  [https://insidenorthernnevada.com/Content/Default/Lifestyles/Article/Lovelock-history-monument-taking-shape/-3/352/32169 22 February 2017]</ref>

==See also==
* {{portal-inline|Nevada}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Lovelock, Nevada}}
* {{wikivoyage inline|Lovelock}}

{{Pershing County, Nevada}}
{{Nevada}}
{{Nevada county seats}}

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[[Category:Cities in Nevada]]
[[Category:County seats in Nevada]]
[[Category:Cities in Pershing County, Nevada]]