To celebrate Nevada Day 2020, and to help small- and medium-sized businesses in Nevada who are struggling in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Made in Nevada is launching a new e-commerce site for Nevada businesses to sell their products directly to consumers. Shop Made in Nevada “brings authentic Nevada businesses from across the Silver State into a single, easy-to-navigate website dedicated to promoting and facilitating the sale of Nevada-made products.” The platform, provided by the Nevada Small Business Development Center, is free of charge to Made in Nevada members. Businesses can sign up for a free membership on the Made in Nevada website or email [email protected] for more information.
Nevada Day commemorates the state’s admission to the Union on October 31, 1864. Celebrated on the last Friday in October, all government offices, schools, libraries and some businesses are closed. According to an article written by in Mike Higdon in the Reno Gazette Journal here is a nice summary of why it is celebrated:
The official Nevada Day Celebration website says we celebrate the day ‘to remind the citizens how and when Nevada became a State. We are the only state to continually celebrate our historical entry into the Union and that makes us unique.’ But perhaps Nevada Day is all of these things: a reminder of history and patriotism, a birthday thrown in spite of support and also a celebration of constant reinvention. From silver mining, to agriculture; from divorce, to gaming; from big tech and logistics to marijuana, Nevada has persisted for 154 years against its own odds.
Many people think Nevada became a state because its mineral production (gold and silver) was needed to help win the Civil War. Former Nevada State Archivist Guy Rocha states this is a myth and the real reasons were purely political. “New states, and their popular and electoral vote, were needed to reelect Lincoln in support of his moderate, reconstruction policies for the South. Among the proposed policies was the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. If Nevada were a state, it could ratify the amendment and help in the passage of the landmark humanitarian legislation.”
Happy Nevada Day!
Image by Caleb Moore – Public Domain
