Patrick is an unincorporated community which was the site of a historic ranch. The founder of the ranch, Patrick McCarran, arrived in Nevada in 1858 as a member of the United States Army under General Winfield Scott Hancock. In 1862 McCarran claimed 2,600 acres (1,100 ha) of land that would become McCarran Ranch and the unincorporated community of Patrick. Patrick's son, Pat McCarran, would go on to become Nevada's first native born U.S.