"The name itself may strike the ignorant as being a place with a mischievous past, yet the land has never once seen the pain brought from warfare. The land that this town rests on has only seen the pain brought from isolation and infertility."-Chava of the Temoke Family. Battle Mountain is perhaps best known as having been designated with the dubious distinction of "armpit of America" in a 2001 Washington Post article. Battle Mountain has capitalized on this notoriety by staging an annual "Old Spice Armpit Festival", starting in 2002 which has since been done away with.
Among human-powered vehicle enthusiasts, Battle Mountain is famous for hosting annual bike races on a long, straight, flat stretch of Highway 305 just outside of town. Pedaling a streamlined two-wheeler at 81.00 MPH over a 200 meter distance in 2002, Sam Whittingham established himself as "the fastest man alive". This event is known as the 'World Human Powered Speed Challenge'[1] On Sept. 18 2008, Sam established a new record of 82.33 mph (132.50 km/h), thereby winning the .decimach prize for going one tenth the speed of sound (with adjustments for slope and altitude).[2]
Also annually held on the same stretch of road is the 'Pony Express'[3], an open road event from Battle Mountain to Austin and back again. This make the longest open road race in the country, averaging a total of 130 miles (210 km). This race consists of cars from the 60's era muscle cars to the most modern European sports cars.
Battle Mountain was the temporary home of the Walls family in the autobiography The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. The Owl Motel located in Battle Mountain was used in the 2001 film Joy Ride.
Author Dale Brown based his books, Plan of Attack and Air Battle Force, in Battle Mountain.
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,871 people, 1,053 households, and 731 families residing in the community. The population density was 1,588.3 people per square mile (612.4/km²). There were 1,455 housing units at an average density of 804.9/sq mi (310.4/km²). The racial makeup of the community was 81.30% White, 0.14% African American, 2.54% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 11.81% from other races, and 3.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.58% of the population.
There were 1,053 households out of which 41.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were non-families. 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.28.
The population is spread out with 33.8% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 6.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 104.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.4 males.
The median income for a household in the community was $42,981, and the median income for a family was $50,995. Males had a median income of $45,313 versus $25,417 for females. The per capita income for the community was $16,975. About 7.8% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.1% of those under age 18 and 20.0% of those age 65 or over.
Battle Mountain is located along Interstate 80, approximately halfway between Reno, NV and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Battle Mountain is the starting point of Nevada State Route 305 which heads southward to Austin, Nevada.
The Union Pacific Railroad line runs through Battle Mountain.