The Railroad Cottages
Las Vegas’ first housing tract

The railroad played an important role in Las Vegas’ early days. With the creation of “Clark’s Las Vegas Townsite in 1905, the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad formed a corporation to handle their interests. The corporation was named “The Las Vegas Land and Water Company.”

Between 1909 and 1911, the corporation built 64 houses for railroad employees. There were four-room and five-room cottages and four exterior elevations. They were constructed of cement block with an open front porch and a rear screen porch.

After submitting a request for the privilege of residing in one of the cottages, early tenants, mostly upper-level and long-term employees, paid a monthly rent of $18.00 or $20.00 with a future option to buy. Some were purchased immediately for cash.

The historic railroad cottage neighborhood has been slowly demolished with the development of downtown Las Vegas. In 1978 there were 41 cottages, in 1984 there were 37, in 2001 there were 13 and today only 5 remain in their original location.

This cottage was located at 521 Third Street. It had been owned by the Cram family and was the most desirable for restoration since it retained many of its original features.

Located at the Clark County Museum at 1830 South Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada

Boulder City Depot

Built: 1931
Style: Union Pacific Standard Plan
Original address: Corner of Hwy 93
and Buchanan, Boulder City, NV 89005
Moved: 1976
Opened for Exhibit: 1979
This depot was built to handle passengers and freight for Boulder City and Hoover Dam. When it was first constructed, it was
about half of this size, but soon, more space was added to the freight area. Passenger service did not last long because it was not profitable.

The front portion was the office area. A large floor scale is located at the front of the freight area. A small walled area was used for supplies. This area now houses a kitchen, as the back portion of the depot is used for meetings and luncheons.

A baggage cart and bench from the Las Vegas Depot are on exhibit as well as various trunks and suitcases.

Located west of the depot are a 1920’s box car, a 1940’s caboose and a crossing signal. A passenger/baggage combination car is located on the east side of the depot.

The Boulder City Depot was donated by the Union Pacific Railroad and was the first historic structure moved to the museum site.

Located at the Clark County Museum at 1830 South Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada

Giles/Barcus House, 1924

This one-room mining boomtown house was built Goldfield just after the Goldfield flood of 1923. In 1928 Edwin Giles, a mining engineer, bought the cottage and settled in with his wife and daughter. In 1955 the house was moved to Las Vegas and became the Odd Shop, an antique store.

It is shown as it might have looked in the 1960s as the Odd Shop antique store.

Located at the Clark County Museum at 1830 South Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada

Babcock/Wilcox House

Located at the Clark County Museum at 1830 South Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada

Goumond House

Built in 1931 in Las Vegas, Nevada – the home of businessman P. J. Goumond.

Located at the Clark County Museum at 1830 South Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada

The Donald W. Reynolds Print Shop

Located at the Clark County Museum at 1830 South Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada

Motor Court Cabin

Located at the Clark County Museum at 1830 South Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada

The Beginnings of the Motel

This exhibit features Cabin 14, built in 1935, from an early Las Vegas motor court.

Las Vegas first hotel was a canvas tent house building, erected in 1905. In 1906 the Hotel Nevada opened across from the Union Pacific Railroad depot. Other hotels soon followed, centered around the depot.

In the early 1920s free auto camps began appearing on the outskirts of towns. Motor hotels – mo-tels – first appeared in 1926. By the 1930s, commercial auto courts and cottage courts with water, laundry facilities, gas stations, and restaurants had replaced the free auto camps.

Throughout World War II, Americans put their travel plans on hold. After the end of the war in 1945, American’s once again hit the road in record numbers. The developing interstate highway system and more powerful cars allowed travelers to go farther and faster.

During the 1950s and 1960s motel owners formed associations and developed franchises to respond to the rising expectations of quality and cleanliness of more sophisticated travelers.

AUTO COURTS

• Acre Court
  1031 S. 5th
• Ambassador
  916 Fremont
• Boulder
  1101 S. 5th
• Cal-Neva
  L. A. Hwy.
• Chief Autel
  1201 Fremont
• De Luxe
  1701 S. 5th
• Down Town Motel
  300 N. Main
• Fremont
  12th & Fremont
• Gateway
  928 S. 6th
• Home Motel
  1400 S. 5th
• Ideal
  715 S. 1st.
• Lido
  407 S. 5th
• Monte Carlo Hotel
  1600 So. Main
• Nevada Motel
  704 So. 5th
• Old Ranch Cottages
  N 5th
• Paris
  N LV SLK Hwy
• Rancho Dio
  LA Hiway
• Royal Autel
  615 S. 5th
• Shady Moor Lodge
  325 S 2nd
• Toma
  1200 Fremont
• Traveler’s
  1100 Fremont
• Ye King’s Rest
  526 8. 5th
  

The Automobile

This exhibit features a 1946 Plymouth Special Deluxe Two-Door Coupe.

The motel is directly linked to car culture. The automobile, and the freedom it represented, touched the American spirit of individualism and adventure.

The first Ford Model A’s were introduced in 1903, followed by the Model T’s in 1908. By 1920 affordable automobiles allowed Americans to travel greater distances in shorter times. After World War II more powerful automobiles and the Interstate Highway System, from 1956, guaranteed speedy and safe interstate and transcontinental travel.

Homes on Wheels

This exhibit features a Spartan Aircraft Corporation Spartanette trailer, 1948

Prior to the birth of the trailer coach industry in the 4930s, only custom-built special-purpose trailers were available. Automobile travelers used various types of tent trailers that offered limited shelter. Campers and vacationers began to demand greater comfort and convenience. This demand gave the mass production trailer business its start.

Trailer parks soon followed, offering bathrooms and shower facilities, and laundry services. And later, water, sewer, and electricity hook ups.

In 1942, with the onset of World War II and the influx of newly recruited servicemen, the military bought more than 500,000 trailers for wartime base housing.

With the end of World War II in 1945 trailers and trailer parks helped meet the need for housing for returning veterans and their families.

Since 1926, automobile pulled coaches had been called trailers. In 1956 a new term emerged – Mobile Home.

Beckley House

The home of Las Vegas pioneers Will & Leva Beckley.

The Beckley House in 1912

When the Beckleys moved into this house in 1912, it was much smaller than it is today. Originally built as a 650 square foot, one-bath bungalow with four major rooms – living room with fireplace, bedroom, dining room and kitchen – it cost $2,500 to build.

The 650 square foot attic, which includes a dormer for added space and light, tops the second level; a large porch shows the original width of the house and spans the front.

The remodel during the 1920s almost doubled the size of the first level living area, to 1,200 square feet.

Located at the Clark County Museum at 1830 South Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada

Beckley House

This California Bungalow style house was built for Will and Leva Beckley in 1912 at a cost of $2,500. It was located at 120 South Fourth Street downtown Las Vegas.

The Beckley house became a local landmark, it was the last pioneer home downtown. Due to development pressures it could not be saved in its original location. It was moved to the museum in 1979.

Although the house was built in 1912, some major changes were made in the early 1920s. This is the time period exhibited in the house.

The Beckley House was the last pioneer family home left in downtown Las Vegas. Since it couldn’t be preserved in its original location because of development pressures, the house was moved to the Clark County Museum in April 1979. The Beckley House became the first house on Heritage Street.

Above right: In the mid-1920s the Beckleys expanded their four-room house, enclosed the back porch and built the two-story addition that transformed the attic into second floor living and storage space.

In April 1981 the museum renovated the Beckley House, removed the two-story addition and returned the house to its appearance during the 1920s and ’30s.

In May 1983 the Beckley House was opened to the public and became the first home on Heritage Street.

Townsite House

This “Townsite” House is one of the 1000 built by the U.S. Government as housing for employees of Basic Magnesium Inc., Henderson, 1941.

Located at the Clark County Museum at 1830 South Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada, the Townsite house was previously located at 302 West Basic Road in Henderson. It was moved in 1982 and opened in 1985.

Restored Time Period: 1940s
Built: 1942

In 1941, a magnesium processing plant was built on vacant land between Las Vegas and Boulder City. In 1942, to house the workers of B.M.I., a Townsite was built that included 297 three-bedroom homes and 703 two-bedroom homes. This house is one of the three-bedroom homes.

The houses were considered to be temporary at the time they were built. The exterior is of redwood siding. The interior walls are made of 1/4″ plywood with batten strips covering the seams. The windows are situated to provide cross ventilation and a six-sided swamp cooler provided comfort during hot weather.

Besides housing, the Townsite also had stores, schools, two churches, a library, theater, hospital, and bowling alley. On January 1, 1944, a Post Office was completed and the Townsite officially became Henderson. It was named in honor of Charles B. Henderson, a Nevada attorney and U.S. Senator.

Due to the development of a small apartment complex, this house was donated to the museum. Parts from other Townsite houses helped complete the renovation of this home.