The next nearest town, Nixon, is 60 miles (100 km) to the south on a reservation owned by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

Gerlach was founded in 1906[4] during the construction[5] of the Western Pacific Railroad Feather River Route.

[7] In 1997, the town and its homes and bars were used by the British team of the Thrust SSC supersonic car, as they pursued their goal of being the first to go faster than the speed of sound, which was achieved on October 15, 1997.

The Black Rock Saloon in the town kept track of the progress, given at the same time, Craig Breedlove attempted his own pursuit of the sound barrier.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Gerlach CDP has a total area of 3.1 square miles (8.0 km2), all land.

The economy of Gerlach focuses on tourism in the nearby Black Rock Desert, and hunting.

Nearby Empire was a company town of the United States Gypsum Corporation (USG) until the plant closed on January 31, 2011, eliminating 95 jobs.

Hunters from all over the west travel to Gerlach to hunt a wide variety of game such as chukar, geese, deer, antelope, etc.

Gerlach was also the site for Gary Cooper's first (credited) film, The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926).

[23] KLAP[24] 89.5 is run by Open Sky Radio Corp and broadcast from a studio located at 395 Main Street in the old Gerlach Gas Station and Garage Building Office.