LAS VEGAS RAILROAD SOCIETY MUSEUMS The City Council provided 200 acre property, enables the nonprofit organization to create an entire year-round active cultural center with various museums educating the public and Las Vegas' 350,000 students of our local schools about Las Vegas' railroad history, Nevada's mining history and even America's marina history, as also uncountable other educational program activities. LAS VEGAS - YESTERYEAR  Native Americans inhabited Las Vegas for hundreds of years before the first westerners ever arrived in our area. By the 1830s, today's known Old Spanish Trail led through the area known as Las Vegas, or "the meadows." The name Las Vegas evolved from the abundant water which was found in our valley. It was a welcome element for many early traders. In 1844, John Charles Fremont first entered the valley and later many Americans traveling through the deserts and lands to California used the same route Freemont described. [Old Spanish Trail]. The first settlement in the area, which lasted only two years was a mission started by Mormon colonists which were sent by Brigham Young, but various complications led to the abandonment of the Fort in 1857. The following owner, Octavius Decatur Gass established a very successful working ranch which lasted throughout the rest of the nineteenth century. An adobe remnant of the original Mormon-built complex of the oldest building in Nevada is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. LAND SALE Mrs. Helen Stewart was eventually the new Gass' ranch owner, and in 1902 she sold most of her 1,840 acres to Montana Senator William Clark's San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City Railroad. 1ST PASSENGER TRAINS May 15, 1905, one of the first passenger trains came to Las Vegas for the townsite auction. LAND AUCTION - The railroad laid out a town [Clark's Las Vegas Town Site] and held a land auction on   May 15, 1905 which founded the Las Vegas valley. - Within two days, the 110-acres bounded by Stewart Avenue and Garces Avenue and   Main Street and 5th Street (now Las Vegas Boulevard) were sold. - A community begun the year before by surveyor J.T. McWilliams, as the railroad controlled   the water supply from Big Springs, the source of Las Vegas Creek. - Las Vegas was part of Lincoln County until 1909 when it became part of the newly   established Clark County. Clark's Las Vegas Townsite became an incorporated city on   March 16, 1911 when it adopted its first charter. - Today's jurisdictions: The city of Las Vega/ Unincorporated Clark County/ The city of North   Las Vegas/ The city of Henderson and the city of Boulder City. RAILROAD'S IMPACT ON LAS VEGAS' GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT From the large mission-style depot on Fremont Street, the city's main business corridor, to the three-story concrete ice plant on Main Street, the railroad dominated our physical landscape and also influenced our town's growth and development. FIRST HOUSING TRACT 64 cottages were constructed in 1910 to house railroad workers and are known today as "railroad cottages" which represent an industry which used to dominate our city. But then, mid-1920s the main yards were moved to Caliente, Nevada, and hundreds of railroad workers lost their jobs in the midst of the Great Depression when the future of Las Vegas was already quite uncertain. More on that story and others...   LAS VEGAS - TODAY.... PARTICIPATING PRO BONO COMPANIES (During Our Construction Phase # 1) 1] KGA Architecture 2] SH Architecture 3] TSF Trade Show Fabrications West Design concept provided [pro bono] by TRADE SHOW FABRICATIONS - WEST LVRRS IS SEEKING THE FOLLOWING: 1] We are looking for the donation of live-size railroad equipment! Plus, we are seeking necessary funds for the transportation and of any such historical railroad equipment.     - Abandoned live-steam locomotives     - Abandoned Cabooses     - Abandoned parlor cars     - Abandoned passenger cars     - Abandoned miniature train layouts     - Please donate miniature trains any size     - Please donate miniature trains or train sets 2] We are looking for the donation of any kind of mining memorabilia!     - The list can be very long, we welcome just about any mining equipment, books, etc... 3] We are looking for the donation of any kind of marina memorabilia!     - Abandoned hand-crafted boats/ships in miniature     - Books / Hats/ Magazines, etc.     - Abandoned marina memorabilia     - Abandoned antique fishing boats     - Plus, plus, plus.... 4] Please Contact Us       - And donate any such items to help our museums. We are 501 c3/ all donations are       100% tax deductible.  FIRST-CLASS CULTURAL CENTER NOW ON THE DRAWING BOARD The future Las Vegas Railroad Society Museum will open the historic past associated with the trains and their usefulness in helping form the city of Las Vegas & state of Nevada from the beginning of the transportation era. LAS VEGAS RAILROAD SOCIETY MUSEUMS The Las Vegas Railroad Society creates more that one museum within the 200 acre property, which has been provided by the city of Las Vegas, displaying and demonstrating the following...  Mining history of the West Re-enactment of yester-year's railroad history / Educational displays of life-size steam locomotives; railroad cars; cabooses; railroad memorabilia, supplied by our supportive donors.... Educational displays; and ongoing exhibits about Las Vegas' & American railroad history Railroad museum library (Local/ National/International railroad history) Railroad museum video room (Railroad history & train cartoons for children) Educational class rooms (Youth & senior Programs) Marina museum with educational displays and seminars....  LAS VEGAS RAILROAD SOCIETY MUSEUM WISH LIST The Las Vegas Railroad Society is indeed extremely grateful to local citizens, who already donated various treasures and antique items like grandfather's railroad hat; RR related papers; grandmother's trunk etc. etc. to our nonprofit organization. Would you also like to donate such historic gifts to the Las Vegas Railroad Society museum? 1] We will have lots of room and display areas, for steam era antiques. 2] If you just can't part with certain items, but you still have no room for them in your apartment or house, you may consider displaying such precious family antiques of historical value inside the Las Vegas Railroad Museum on a loan-agreement. 3] We just can't have too many trunks, railroad hats, or old clocks, etc., on display.  DON'T KNOW HOW TO CASH IN ON YOUR ANTIQUES? GET A 100% TAX WRITE OFF AND DONATE YOUR ANTIQUES TO THE LAS VEGAS RAILROAD SOCIETY MUSEUM! E-mail us, or call us! We will even pick up any items for the Las Vegas Railroad Society Museum! Here are some sample pictures of treasures of days gone bye which we are looking for Please donate: Railroad memorabilia: Do you have old railroad tickets/maps or any railroad related paper work or time sheets from your grandfather or someone else? Any railroad memorabilia, please donate them to the LVRRS Museum!   Please donate: Ice Cream Store/Restaurant antiques... Soda fountains; Etc... Please donate: City of Las Vegas memorabilia... Do you have an old Las Vegas Slot machine or anything from Las Vegas' old days? Please donate items to the Las Vegas Railroad Society Museum for a 100% tax deduction!  URGENT! Please donate: Old railroad clothing: RR Uniforms/ railroad hats... URGENT! Please donate: Antique travel Items: Trunks/luggage... URGENT! Please donate: Antique furniture for our future tea room!   URGENT! Please donate: Old barber shop/beauty shop items... URGENT! Please donate: Antique sewing machines of any kind/& sewing gadgets:   URGENT! Please donate: Antique general store items, tin cans, bottles, pill boxes, etc.:   Please donate: Toy trains & miniature houses, any size: 'N'/'HO'/'O' up to 1.5" + scale used or new:   URGENT! Please donate: Railroad books of any kind, used or new, for the museum and library!   Please donate: Railroad magazines, used or new for the museum or library... Please donate: Seasonal gift cards, antique, used or new (any season, any design) Please donate: Seasonal decor, any kind, Christmas/Easter/Halloween, etc., used or new... Looking for old and new music instruments   PLEASE BUY LIVE CHRISTMAS TREES Then, please donate them to the Las Vegas Railroad Society after the holidays. (After our ground braking ceremony which will be announced on TV and the RJ newspaper) DON'T LIKE YOUR TREES? Don't like your palm tree, pine tree, or any other trees or shrubs in your yard? Don't cut them down; donate them instead to the Las Vegas Railroad Society for a 1oo % tax write off! Call to make arrangements: Email Us URGENT! Please donate: Christmas tree ornaments/ Artificial Christmas trees! We desperately needed, old or new ones.. We are looking for donations of Teddy Bears all sizes, antique are new:   Please donate: Antique cameras, record players, radios, telephones, etc:   Please donate:  Merry-Go-Rounds of all sizes, old or new! Even a life-size one: Please donate: Antique toys: (Plus new wrapped toys needed year-round!)   Please donate: Tin toys: Please donate ships for our marina museum   Please donate: 1] Antique dolls and for the Museum: 2] (Plus, we are always seeking for new toys, originally wrapped for gifts for children)   Please donate: Doll houses, old or new: Please donate: Antique art work desperately needed: (Paintings, Lithographs, for LVRRS fundraisers, museum and auctions)     Railroad theme lithographs for the museum!    Please donate: Antique Children strollers for the Museum...   URGENT! Please donate: Desperately looking for mining carts for the park: Please donate: Hoping for donations of antique coaches (any size) for the LVRRS Museum Looking for donations of live-size carts old or new for the park:     UPDATE REPORTS / E-NEWSLETTER Back to Top

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