On Ely's main street, motels and restaurants sometimes struggle for success in an economy based on mining and the nearby prison.

On Ely's main drag, classic cars -- some abandoned, some for sale -- dot the street.

A sleepy Easter Sunday in Ely.

Theresa Hamilton moved to Ely two weeks ago from Reno. Her reason: a steady job clerking at a hotel. The second reason: "I really love the peace and quiet," she says.

Bill Hally is a semi-tired Ely resident who works part-time at the prison as a technician in charge of the inmate phone system. "Ely is a great place to live," he says. "Everyone knows everyone else. The other side of that, of course, is that everybody knows your business."

Ricky and Delaine Spilsbury of the Ely Shoshone tribe. Native Americans still play an important role in the state's culture and identity.

John Arant, owner of The Martin Basque restaurant in Winnemucca. "Solid food and tradition sells," he says of the restaurant whose menu hasn't changed for decades.

A quiet street in Winnemucca.

Thunder Mountain Monument, created by Frank Van Zant, is rife with images of violence and suffering, a criticism of white settlers' treatment of Native Americans.

Detail of a sculpture made from bike parts in Gerlach.

Planet X pottery gallery, Gerlach, NV

St. Mary's in the Mountains Catholic Church, Virginia City.

Virginia City.

Amy Smith, a resident of the Virginia City area, works at The Roasting House coffee shop.

A "hoop house" on Lattin Farms that helps in growing greens.

Lattin Farms in Fallon comprises 400 acres, and "grows everything from apples to zucchini," says owner Rick Lattin.

Don Keele of Lattin Farms in Fallon.

Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park grew out of a major ichthyosaur fossil find in the area in 1928.

The main tower of the Crescent Dunes solar plant outside Tonopah glows from the intensity of sunlight deflected toward it.