If you’re a UFO enthusiast, you may know about the remote Nevada town of Rachel — the town closest to the infamous Area 51.
Rachel was founded as a mining town in the early 1970s. It was initially called “Tempiute Village” after the location of the mine, Tempiute Mountain.
Several years later, when residents of the town were discussing bringing electricity in, the topic of the town’s name came up.
The first and only child to be born in this valley was Rachel Jones. Her father delivered her in their mobile home on Feb. 15, 1978. The town, then, was on the upswing, and Rachel’s birth struck everyone as an important event.
The following month, on March 22, the town got power — and was officially renamed “Rachel.”
Rachel eventually grew to more than 500 residents. But most of these residents relocated after the mine was shut down in the late 1980s. Today, only about 50 people remain in Rachel.
If you’d like to pay a visit, Rachel is located near the midpoint of Nevada’s 98-mile Extraterrestrial Highway.
P.S. Sadly, Rachel Jones passed away May 24, 1980. Her family had moved to Moses Lake, Washington, where Rachel died of pneumonia (possibly exacerbated by the ash of the Mount St. Helens eruption).
Sources:
- Rachel, Nevada Home Page (in particular, “A Short History of Rachel, Nevada” by Glenn Campbell and Edith Grover)
- Rachael Jones obituary – FamilySearch
Image: Adapted from Sign for Rachel, Nevada, along southbound Nevada State Route 375 by Famartin under CC BY-SA 4.0.
