thumb|Ruins at [[Fort Churchill State Historic Park]]

thumb|[[Dini's Lucky Club in Yerington]]

Lyon County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, its population was 59,235. Its county seat is Yerington. Lyon County is a part of the Reno metropolitan area.

History

Lyon County was one of the nine original counties created on November 25, 1861. It was named after Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union general to be killed in the Civil War. Its first county seat was established at Dayton on November 29, 1861, which had just changed its name from Nevada City in 1862, and which had been called Chinatown before that. After the Dayton Court House burned down in 1909, the seat was moved to Yerington in 1911. Reportedly, it was named for Captain Robert Lyon, a survivor of the Pyramid Lake War in 1860, but Nevada State Archives staff discovered a county seal with the picture of the Civil War general.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (1.1%) are covered by water. It is the fourth-smallest county in Nevada by area. The highest elevation is about on the northeast ridge of Middle Sister, the peak of which is located in adjacent Mono County, California, while the highest independent mountain completely within Lyon County is the nearby East Sister. The most topographically prominent peak in Lyon County is Bald Mountain.

Part of the Toiyabe National Forest is located within Lyon County.

Major highways

  • 20px Interstate 11 (Future)
  • 20px Interstate 80
  • 20px Interstate 80 Business (Wadsworth–Fernley)
  • 20px U.S. Route 50
  • 20px U.S. Route 95
  • 20px<br>20px U.S. Route 50 Alternate
  • 20px<br>20px U.S. Route 95 Alternate
  • 20px State Route 208
  • 20px State Route 338
  • 20px State Route 339
  • 20px State Route 340
  • 20px State Route 341
  • 20px State Route 427
  • 20px State Route 439
  • 20px State Route 823
  • 20px State Route 824
  • 20px State Route 827
  • 20px State Route 828
  • 20px State Route 829

Adjacent counties and city

  • Washoe County - north
  • Storey County - northwest
  • Churchill County - east
  • Douglas County - west
  • Carson City - west
  • Mineral County - southeast
  • Mono County, California - southwest

Demographics