Rustic tank with the words "Nowhere Nevada" painted on.

Isaac Hoops/ Nevada Sagebrush
Sagebrush and mountains surround a rusty tank depicting the words “Nowhere Nevada”.

If you grew up going to school in Nevada you’re definitely able to finish this song. “Home means the hills, home means that sage and the pine … ”

The lyrics describe the best state of them all, Nevada.. No matter where you are in the state this rings true.

If you are new to Nevada, welcome to our lovely state. Sagebrush surrounds us everywhere, making it fitting for sage to be in the songs. Take a few moments to enjoy the mountains and breathtaking sunsets. It truly is a beautiful site. 

We learned this song in preschool up to fourth grade, so something that blew my mind was most people don’t know their state song at all. The state made history when it broke the record for “most people singing a state song at once” when 45,553 Nevadans participated in the mass serenade. I feel this truly captures the intensity of Nevadians when it comes to our state song. 

Here are a few wild facts I learned about Nevada while doing my research for this story to share with you. Nevadan or not you’ll enjoy these. 

  • The brightest place on Earth viewed from outer space in the Las Vegas Strip
  • In Nevada there are over 200,000 slot machines! This calculates out to one slot machine for every 10 residents.
  • The top wedding destination in the US is Las Vegas, and second worldwide. 300 couples are married each on average. 
  • It is believed that the most haunted town in the US is Virginia City, Nevada. 

Nevada is littered with small towns all across the state. One of these small towns is Virginia City. Just 26 miles away from Reno, Nevada only about a 30 minute drive. A shockingly small number of people live here. In 2019 the population was only 779 people living in this small city. One of the wild events hosted in Virginia City is the upcoming 62nd annual International Camel & Ostrich Races. In case you are interested, it’s September 11-12. There are also tons of bars in the area.

I can remember learning the state song in music class from preschool to fourth grade. I’m sure this memory is not exclusive to me. We all can even recall performing this in grade school for our parents. No matter how many years pass we’ll all be able to call this song back to us. The chorus is burned into our minds, forever. 

Sydney Avery can be reached at sydneyavery@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @sydneyavery08