An image of the Department of Water and Power building located at 600 Nevada Way in Boulder City. Text across the front of the building reads: "Municipal Power & Light."

A capital building in Salt Lake City.

An image of houses in Boulder City, Nevada.

The black and white view of a crowd of people awaiting the arrival Lockheed 14 aircraft at Floyd Bennett Airport in New York. Typed onto a piece of paper attached to the image: "Tumultuous welcome awaits world fliers here Floyd Bennett Airport, N.Y. -- Policemen lined up on the field here awaiting the arrival of Howard Hughes and his companions, New York bound from Minneapolis, on the last leg of their epochal Round-The-World flight. By noon, a crowd of 6,000 persons had gathered at the airport, and it was increasing by the moment. Credit line (ACME). 7/14/38."

The mountains near Virginia City, Nevada. Virga can be seen falling from the clouds. Like many cities and towns in Nevada, Virginia City was a mining boomtown; it developed virtually overnight as a result of miners rushing to the Comstock Lode silver strike of 1859 on the eastern slopes of Mount Davidson. But, Virginia City far surpassed all others for its peak of population, technological advancements developed there, and for providing the population base upon which Nevada qualified for statehood. The riches of the Comstock Lode inspired men to hunt for silver mines throughout Nevada and other parts of the American West. At its peak, Virginia City had a population of over 25,000 residents and was called the richest city in America. Dominated by San Francisco moneyed interests, Virginia City was heralded as the sophisticated interior partner of San Francisco. “San Francisco on the coast and Virginia City inland” became the mantra of west coast Victorian entrepreneurs. Early Virginia City settlers were in large part the backwash from San Francisco and the California Gold Rush, ten years before. Mine owners who made a killing in the Comstock mines spent most of their wealth in San Francisco.