Specifications include, but are not limited to: This project will study three historic ranch sites in Spring Valley State Park (SVSP), Lincoln County, Nevada, which is approximately 17 miles northeast of Pioche at the north end of Meadow Valley Wash. The ranches are owned and managed by the Nevada Division of State Parks (NDSP). The purpose of the project is to identify, evaluate, and preserve historic agricultural resources on public land in Lincoln County and to improve the visiting public’s awareness of archaeological resources in SVSP. It primarily addresses Lincoln County Archaeological Initiative (LCAI) Priority 3, but also addresses Priorities1, 2, and 4 and will apply “A Ranching and Farming Context for Lincoln County, Nevada, ca. 1857 to 1934” (Oliver et al. 2018). This previous context provides a broad history of agriculture in the county, a discussion of historic ranching and farming property types and guidelines for evaluating the eligibility of agricultural resources for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Additionally, the previous context will be applied to site-specific archaeological and architectural resource investigation, recordation, and preservation through the mechanism of a Historic Structure Report (HSR) for each ranch and by examining the ranches in detail and developing preservation and management recommendations.
