Groom Lake is a salt flat in Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

 used for runways of the Nellis Bombing Range Test Site airport (KXTA) on the north of the Area 51

Area 51

Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield...

 USAF

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 military installation. The lake at 4409 ft (1,343.9 m) elevation is ~3.7 miles (6 km) from north to south and 3 miles (4.8 km) from east to west at its widest point. Located within the namesake Groom Lake Valley portion of the Tonopah Basin

Tonopah Basin

The Tonopah Basin is one of the Central Nevada Desert Basins that extends from the band of arid footslopes along the north side of the Mojave Desert northward into the Big Smoky Valley and the Railroad Valley...

, the lake is northeast of Papoose Lake

Papoose Lake

Papoose Lake is a dry lake bed located in Lincoln County, Nevada, USA. The lake lies within the plot of land referred to as the Groom Lake facility and is a restricted area. The lake is located a few miles Southwest of the Groom lake facility nestled adjacent the Papoose Range....

's S-4 (Sector Four)

S-4 (Sector Four)

S-4 is an alleged military base said to be near Papoose Lake, supposedly hidden under the Papoose Range within Nevada's Nellis Air Force Range at Area 51. The site is protected from all view, as it is located within a valley...

 location and ~25 mi (40.2 km) south of Rachel, Nevada

Rachel, Nevada

Rachel is an unincorporated portion of Lincoln County, Nevada. As the closest habitation to the Nellis Air Force Range and Area 51, Rachel enjoys a modest celebrity, particularly among aviation enthusiasts and UFO hunters....

.

History

Lead and silver were discovered in the southern part of the Groom Range in 1864, and the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 Groome Lead Mines Limited company financed the Conception Mines in the 1870s, giving the district its name (nearby mines included Maria, Willow and White Lake). The interests in Groom were acquired by J. B. Osborne and partners and patented in 1876, and his son acquired the interests in the 1890s. Claims were incorporated as two 1916 companies with mining continuing until 1918 and resuming after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

until the early 1950s.