Groom Lake (salt flat)

Template:About Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox lake Groom Lake is a dry lake,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> also described as a salt flat,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in Nevada. It is used for runways of the Nellis Bombing Range Test Site airport (KXTA).<ref>Template:Cite news
Template:Cite magazine</ref> Part of the Area 51 USAF installation, it lies at an elevation of Template:Convert<ref name=GNIS>Template:Cite gnis</ref> and is approximately Template:Convert from north to south and Template:Convert from east to west at its widest point, and is approximately 11.3 miles in circumference.<ref name=dreamland/> Located within the namesake Groom Lake Valley portion of the Tonopah Basin, the lake is Template:Convert south of Rachel, Nevada.<ref name=dreamland>DREAMLAND: Fifty Years of Secret Flight Testing in Nevada By Peter W. Merlin</ref>

The nearest publicly accessible vantage point is Tikaboo Peak, 26 miles to the east. There were two closer vantage points, dubbed "Freedom Ridge" and "White Sides", but they were closed to public access in 1995 to prevent people from taking pictures of the installation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Template:Main Template:See also Lead and silver were discovered in the southern part of the Groom Range in 1864,<ref name="nevada-bureau">Mineral resources of the Pahranagat Range 30' by 60' quadrangle Template:Webarchive, Joseph V. Tingley, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, Reno, 1989, retrieved June 11, 2010</ref> and the English Groome Lead Mines Limited company financed the Conception Mines in the 1870s, giving the district its name (nearby mines included Maria, Willow and White Lake). The mining claims in Groom were acquired by J. B. Osborne and partners and patented in 1876, and Osborne's son acquired the interests in the 1890s.<ref name="unr-guide-groom-mining">Template:Cite web</ref> The claims were proved in 1916 when two companies began working their mines; that work continued until 1918, and resuming after World War II until the early 1950s.<ref name="unr-guide-groom-mining"/>