Humboldt County, Nevada: History
The Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone tribes have lived in Humboldt County for over 12,000 years.
Humboldt County is the oldest county in Nevada, created by the Utah Territorial Legislature in 1856. It was also one of Nevada's original nine counties created in 1861. The county is named after the Humboldt River, which was named by John C. Frémont after Alexander von Humboldt, a German naturalist, traveler and statesman. Humboldt never saw the places that bear his name. Unionville was the first county seat in 1861 until the mining boom died there and it was moved to Winnemucca on the transcontinental railroad line in 1873.
The county was the site of an arrest in 2000 that led to the U.S. Supreme Court decision Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada in 2004.
Humboldt County is referenced in Brandon Flowers' 2015 song "Digging Up The Heart", in which the protagonist meets "Christie, queen of Humboldt County".