Antelope Valley

Antelope Valley, Nevada is described as being in Piute County. This fictional county appears to be squeezed between Clark County, the southern tip of Nevada, and Nye County, the home of Jackass Flats and its nuclear site. "No one has ever seen an antelope in Antelope Valley, and it isn’t really much of a valley, either -- in fact, it’s just a wide, dusty, mostly sagebrush-filled flatland lying between two low ranges of hills that are often hazy in distant mirages."^SQ1 "There had been a bombing range target several miles away at Jackass Flats during World War II. For whatever reason, the generals involved decided that a paved emergency runway nearby was a necessity. The runway was declared finished on August 6, 1945, the day Hiroshima was bombed, and saw little Air Force use thereafter."^MC1

The fictional town of Antelope Valley is also on the Las Vegas to Reno highway (US 95), which with the adjacent runway, "caused the first buildings to be built there, in the 1950s -- a combination motel and gas station with a restaurant, bar and casino known as the Antelope Valley Inn, along with a handful of mobile homes." Later another motel was added, the Sagebrush Motel. You can also find a couple dozen trailers and a small general store. "Shortly after the legalization in 1970, a small brothel opened in a joined cluster of mobile homes and rather run-down modular buildings, and did a steady if not spectacular business."^SQ1

Will Hoffman, who has lived his life on an isolated ranch, thinks of Antelope Valley as a Big City.^MC10

This location allowed the Redlite Ranch to be the nearest legal brothel to Las Vegas, being about 200 yards from the Clark County line.^MC11 After 1992, with investment from George Bush, this bordello became "the largest single tax revenue source in Piute County"^SQ1

The county seat is the fictional town of Piute Wells, not far up the road.

Real World Notes

Antelope Valley may be close to Mercury, NV (Mapquest Wikipedia) which is about 25–30 miles due north of Pahrumph.

There is a real Antelope Valley, Nevada - Google Maps, but this is nowhere near Las Vegas. In fact, it's near the center of the state, due east from Reno.

There is a real Piute County in Utah. The population in 2000 was 1,435, and by 2005 had been estimated to decrease to 1,365. It was named for the Paiute tribe of Native Americans.
Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piute_County,_Utah

There is also a real Antelope Valley Union High School, and a real Antelope Valley College, and a real Antelope Valley Hospital, all in Lancaster, California (north of Los Angeles).