Pahrump was originally inhabited by the
Southern Paiute. It was slowly inhabited by settlers in the late 19th century. They reportedly chose the name for Pahrump after the original
Southern Paiute name
Pah-Rimpi, or "Water Rock," so named because of the abundant
artesian wells in the valley. Because of the development of those wells, recent inhabitants of
Pahrump Valley established a number of large
ranch-style holdings, mostly over in size. On the ranches,
alfalfa and
cotton were grown, and
livestock were raised. Until the 1960s, Pahrump had no
telephone service except a radio transmitter phone in a phone booth next to the small market, and no paved roads accessed the Pahrump Valley. As
Las Vegas grew, the Pahrump region also saw more real estate development and population growth. This led to the introduction of telephone service and the construction of a paved highway between Las Vegas and Pahrump during the late 1960s. Later, this road (
NV 160) was extended from Pahrump northward to
US 95, near
Amargosa Valley. A second paved road (
NV 372) was introduced that connected Pahrump to neighboring
Shoshone, California, which provided a link to the
Death Valley area, as well as a shorter route to
Los Angeles, California. In the fifties and sixties, there was a two-room elementary school. High school students commuted to Shoshone. In 1974, Pahrump's first high school, Pahrump Valley High School, was constructed. Pahrump is an archetypal example of an
exurb (a residential region beyond suburbs). Due to the necessity of conservation, almost all significant agriculture ended in the valley, and over the years the surface aquifers have been drained. Residential housing growth in Pahrump was partly responsible for Nye County ranking among the fastest growing counties nationwide in 2005. A measure in the ordinance required an American flag to be displayed above any other flag, regardless of what organization, nation, or government it represented. Then-county Sheriff Tony DeMeo said he would not attempt to enforce the ordinance, ==Geography and climate==