Area 51 Nellis Bombing Range Test Site airport (KXTA) on the north of the Area 51 USAF military installation. The lake at elevation is approximately from north to south and from east to west at its widest point. Located within the namesake Groom Lake Valley portion of the Tonopah Basin, the lake is south of Rachel, Nevada. The origin of the Area 51 name is unclear. The most accepted comes from a grid numbering system of the area by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC); while Area 51 is not part of this system, it is adjacent to Area 15. Another explanation is
Virginia State Route 51 as a four-lane undivided highway that passes through the city's residential Westover Hills area. SR 51 parallels the north side of US 58 Business as the former highway follows the height of land between the Dan River to the south and the Sandy River to the north. East of Piedmont Drive, the state highway enters a commercial area where the highway reaches its eastern terminus at US 58 Business (Riverside Drive) a short distance west of the confluence of the two rivers. Virginia State Route 51 State Route 51 (SR 51) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state