Area 51 request filed in 2005, the CIA publicly acknowledged the existence of the base for the first time, declassifying documents detailing the history and purpose of Area 51. Area 51 is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, north-northwest of Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield. The site was acquired by the United States Air Force in 1955, primarily for the flight testing of the Lockheed U-2 aircraft. The area around Area 51, including the small town of Rachel on the "Extraterrestrial Highway", is
New York State Route 51 north from West Winfield to Utica. At the time, this was the only substantial segment of what is now NY 51 to have a route number even though all of modern NY 51 south of Ilion was state-maintained. In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, most of NY 44 became part of NY 8. The section from West Burlington to West Winfield, however, became part of the new NY 51, which utilized all of its modern routing from Mount Upton to Ilion upon assignment. It was extended across the Mohawk River to NY 5 in North Ilion