Jiggs, Nevada

Unincorporated community in the state of Nevada, United States

Unincorporated community in Nevada, United States

40°25′33″N 115°39′55″W / 40.42583°N 115.66528°W / 40.42583; -115.66528CountryUnited StatesStateNevadaCountyElkoElevation

^[1]

5,486 ft (1,672 m)Population

(2000)

• Total2Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)GNIS feature ID845520^[1]

Jiggs is an unincorporated community in Elko County, Nevada, United States,^[1] in the Mound Valley at the south end of State Route 228.

The community is part of the Elko Micropolitan Statistical Area. Jiggs is located at the southwestern foothills of the extensive Ruby Mountains; the community is about 30 miles (48 km) south of Elko.

History

The site was formerly a year-round camp for Native Americans gathering pine nuts.^[2]

Prior names for the settlement had been Mound Valley, Skelton, and Hylton—unfortunately, all at the same time. Since no one could seem to agree on a name, postal authorities chose a new name from a list submitted by local ranchers for the new post office to be established December 18, 1918. One of the names was Jiggs, a character in the Bringing Up Father comic strip, who was always bickering with his wife Maggie.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The town was the headquarters for "King Fisher", a fictional character created by author Zane Grey.^[2]

The town was featured in a 1965 Volkswagen advertising campaign in which the entire population (5 adults, 4 children and a dog) was shown comfortably seated inside a VW Bus.^[5]

Notable residents

Lewis R. Bradley, 2nd Governor of Nevada^[6]
Edward P. Carville, 18th Governor of Nevada^[7]^[6]
Waddie Mitchell, Cowboy poet

References

^ ^a ^b ^c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Jiggs, Nevada
^ ^a ^b ^c Carlson, Helen S. (1985). Nevada place names: a geographical dictionary. Reno: University of Nevada Press. pp. 145–146. ISBN 0-87417-094-X.
^ Scriba, Jay (October 15, 1970). "From Sleepy Eye to Chicken Bristle, USA". The Milwaukee Journal. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
^ Federal Writers' Project (1941). Origin of Place Names: Nevada (PDF). W.P.A. p. 25.
^ "The Volkswagen Station Wagon holds the entire population of Jiggs, Nevada". Albuquerque Journal. April 15, 1965. p. 17. Retrieved March 19, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b Glionna, John M. (January 3, 2016). "Oddly named towns hark back to Nevada's colorful past". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
^ "Jiggs, Nevada". Howard Hickson. 2000. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2009.