Question of the Day - 24 January 2019

Happy to. 

The name Pahrump is based on Paiute nomenclature, Pah-Rimpi, which means "Water Rock," describing the abundant artesian wells in the valley.

Pahrump is a quirky little boomtown 60 miles west of Las Vegas just over the Clark County line in Nye County. As such, it has one foot in Las Vegas's sphere of influence, serving as a bedroom community both literally (some residents commute an hour each way to work in the city) and figuratively (prostitution is legal in Nye County and Pahrump has a couple of brothels).

Nevada Route 160 is now two lanes in each direction almost all the way to Pahrump from Las Vegas. It's one lane for a few miles at Mountain Springs (the highest point on the trip at 5,410 feet), but construction to widen that stretch into two lanes will be completed next summer.

It also has a third foot in the far southern corner of Nye, third largest county in terms of land area in the U.S. It's a long 160 miles to the county seat in Tonopah; 250 miles from the county's far northwestern town of Gabbs (former home of Melvin Dummar, of Howard and Melvin fame, who died recently); and almost 300 miles by road to Duckwater, Nye's far northeastern town. To Pahrump's location, add an unincorporated status (with no zoning to speak of). And it has a population of nearly 40,000, making it the largest town in the county.

Pahrump boasts the following.

Spring Mountain Motor Resort, Hotel, and Casino is a state-of-the-art motor-sports country club offering driving schools; sales, service, support, and instruction for race cars; a clubhouse, racquetball court, and 4.5-acre freshwater lake with water sports; and condominiums with private garages. 
    
Front Site Firearms Training Resort is the world's largest (550-acre) resort dedicated exclusively to providing self-defense training with or without firearms. It offers one-, two-, and multi-day handgun, shotgun, rifle, submachine gun, tactical, armorer, martial-arts (empty-hand and edged weapons), and defensive-driving classes. It's also building a master-planned community.

Pahrump has several casinos (with free parking), two golf courses, two wineries, a full-service hospital, and three traffic lights (all on Rt. 160). 

Pahrump is also known for Art Bell. At the height of his notoriety, he broadcast from a modest home studio there via nearly 400 AM radio stations around the country, reaching an audience of an estimated 20 million, for five hours most nights. He founded and hosted the paranormal-themed radio program "Coast to Coast AM" and its companion show "Dreamland." (Which reminds us, Michael Jackson also owned a home in Pahrump for a while, where he home-schooled his three children.) Bell was semi-retired from 2003 to 2010, making occasional guest appearances on the syndicated radio shows. Then he moved to the Philippines, returned, started a couple new radio shows, retired again and moved back to the Philippines, and returned to Pahrump where he died last April at age 72 from an accidental drug overdose.

Pahrump had its day in the sun, if you can call it that, in the Tim Burton movie Mars Attacks! The Martians land in Pahrump and though they claim to come in peace, they quickly zap most of the people who greet them.

Special thanks to Pahrump Jackie for a nice assist on this answer.