Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park

Coordinates: 36°10′50″N 115°08′01″W / 36.18056°N 115.13361°W / 36.18056; -115.13361
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Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort
State Historic Park
Reconstructed portion of fort
in downtown Las Vegas
Map showing the location of Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park
Map showing the location of Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park
Location in Nevada
Map showing the location of Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park
Map showing the location of Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park
Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park (Nevada)
LocationLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Coordinates36°10′50″N 115°08′01″W / 36.18056°N 115.13361°W / 36.18056; -115.13361[1]
Area3.16 acres (1.28 ha)[2]
Elevation1,923 ft (586 m)[1]
DesignationNevada state park
Established1991
AdministratorNevada Division of State Parks
WebsiteOld Las Vegas Mormon Fort
State Historic Park
Las Vegas Mormon Fort
Nevada Historical Marker
 No. 35
Las Vegas, Nevada
Area0.699 acres
Built1855
NRHP reference No.72000764 (original)
78003379 (increase)
MARKER No.35
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 1, 1972
Boundary increaseDecember 12, 1978

Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park is a

Nevada Historical Marker #35,[7] and two markers placed by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers
.

Architecture and purpose

It was built in the New Mexico folk carpenter architectural style to facilitate travel along the Spanish Trail, and to enable Mormon missionary work in the Las Vegas Valley and to those traveling from New Mexico to California.[8]

The fort was surrounded by 14-foot (4.3 m) high adobe walls that extended for 150 feet (46 m). While called a fort, it was never home to any military troops but like many Mormon forts provided a defense and shelter for local settlers and travelers.

History

Mormon period

Los Angeles, California. As a result of the beginning of the Utah War
, the Mormons abandoned the fort.

Civil War period

Around 1860, a small detachment of

U.S. Army troops was assigned to protect the settlers at the fort.[citation needed
]

The fort was called Fort Baker during the

Fort Mojave and reestablish the ferry there.[9] Carleton then intended to send on from there three cavalry companies and one of infantry to the Mormon fort at Las Vegas, and establish a post called Fort Baker. This was in preparation for an advance to Salt Lake City the following year.[10] The move to reoccupy Fort Mojave never occurred as planned because Carleton's California Column at Fort Yuma were sent instead into Arizona and New Mexico to evict the Confederates there the next year. However, Fort Mojave was later reoccupied in 1863 by Union troops from California. In 1864, a road survey party led by Captain Price, Company M, 2nd California Cavalry Regiment traveled on the route from Fort Douglas to Fort Mojave passing through Las Vegas, stopping for water there on June 10. No mention is made of any garrison there.[11]
Presumably the post was never garrisoned during the Civil War.

Ranching/early Las Vegas period

In 1865,

Octavius Gass re-occupied the fort and started the irrigation works, renaming the area to Los Vegas Rancho (later renamed Las Vegas in 1902). Gass defaulted on a loan to Archibald Stewart in 1881 and lost the ranch, with Stewart and his wife Helen becoming the new caretakers. In 1902, William A. Clark's San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad acquired the property from Helen Stewart along with most of what is now downtown Las Vegas, transferring most of the company's land to the now defunct Las Vegas Land and Water Company.[12]

Site preservation

Ownership of the fort and the land around it changed hands many times and it had several close calls with destruction. In 1955, the land was acquired by the Las Vegas Elks. With support of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, the city of Las Vegas acquired the fort in 1989. Long-term protection was gained when the state acquired the site as a state park in 1991.[13]

A $4.5 million renovation and visitor center, designed by assemblageSTUDIO, was completed in 2005.[14] A visitor center explains the history of the fort.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Las Vegas Mormon Fort (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ "Inventory of State Lands" (PDF). Nevada Division of State Lands. April 27, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park". Nevada State Parks. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  4. ISBN 1556701055
    .
  5. ^ Gene Amberg, Supervisor of Federal Aid Programs, Planning Dept. (November 8, 1971). "Las Vegas Mormon Fort". National Register of Historic Place Inventory Nomination. National Park Service. Retrieved January 30, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "The Las Vegas Mormon Fort". Historical Marker Database. June 16, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  7. ^ "Las Vegas Old Mormon Fort". Nevada’s State Historical Markers. State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  8. ^ "A History of The Old Fort". Friends Of The Fort. August 20, 1931. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  9. San Bernardino
    and Los Angeles.
  10. ^ Brig.-Gen. Richard H. Orton (1890). Records of California Men in the War of the Rebellion 1861 to 1867. Sacramento, Cal.: State Office. p. 21. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
  11. ISBN 978-0-8117-2978-9
    .
  12. ^ "Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort Historic State Park Brochure" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  13. ^ "History of Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park". Nevada State Parks. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  14. ^ "Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort Visitors Center". Special Collections and Archives. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved November 23, 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park.
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