STOREY

county, west-central Nevada, U.S., directly east of Reno. It is Nevada's smallest county in area (outside the smaller Carson City, a county-level municipality). The region is arid, with the Truckee River forming the northern border and the Flowery Range mountains covering the southwestern corner of the county. Virginia City (the Storey county seat) and the surrounding region were the centre of one of America's most famous 19th-century gold and silver rushes, which included the Comstock Lode. Storey, an original Nevada county, was created in 1861. Sparsely populated, the county remains dependent on mining (much reduced in scale). Area 263 square miles (682 square km). Pop. (1990) 2,526.