Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park

Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort
State Historic Park
Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort ; State Historic Park
	Reconstructed portion of fort ; in downtown Las Vegas
	Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort ; State Historic Park Location in Las Vegas Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort ; State Historic Park Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort ; State Historic Park (Nevada)
Location	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Coordinates	36°10′50″N 115°08′01″W / 36.18056°N 115.13361°W
Area	3.16 acres (1.28 ha)
Elevation	1,923 ft (586 m)
Established	1991
Administered by	Nevada Division of State Parks
Designation	Nevada state historic park
Website	Official website
	Las Vegas Mormon Fort
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Nevada Historical Marker No. 35
	Part of the original fort, later remodeled and used as a testing laboratory by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Location	500 E. Washington Ave. ; Las Vegas, Nevada
Area	0.699 acres
Built	1855
NRHP reference No.	72000764 (original); 78003379 (increase)
MARKER No.	35
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	February 1, 1972
Boundary increase	December 12, 1978

Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park is a state park of Nevada. It contains the Old Mormon Fort (completed 1855), the first permanent structure built in what would become Las Vegas fifty years later.^[3] In present-day Las Vegas, the site is at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue, less than one mile north of the downtown area and Fremont Street. This is the only U.S. state park located in a city that houses the first building ever built in that city.^[4] The fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 1, 1972.^[5] The site is memorialized with a tablet erected by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1997,^[6] along with 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]^[9]

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.^{[citation needed]}

History

Mormon period

Mormon missionaries led by William Bringhurst arrived on June 14, 1855, and selected a site, along one of the creeks that flowed from the Las Vegas Springs, on which they would build the fort. The fort served as the midpoint on the trail between Salt Lake City, Utah and 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 Civil War, named after Edward Dickinson Baker. In a letter from Col. James Henry Carleton written to Pacific Department headquarters, December 23, 1861, Carleton mentions his plan to send an advance party of seven companies from Fort Yuma to reoccupy Fort Mojave and reestablish the ferry there.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.^[13]

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.^[14]

A $4.5 million renovation and visitor center, designed by assemblageSTUDIO, was completed in 2005.^[15] A visitor center explains the history of the fort.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b "Las Vegas Mormon Fort (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
^ "Inventory of State Lands" (PDF). Nevada Division of State Lands. April 27, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park". Nevada State Parks. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
^ Michael S. Durham (1990). The Smithsonian Guide to Historic America: The Desert States. Stewart Tabori & Chang. p. 318. ISBN 1556701055.
^ 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)
^ "The Las Vegas Mormon Fort". Historical Marker Database. June 16, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
^ "Las Vegas Old Mormon Fort". Nevada’s State Historical Markers. State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
^ "The Old Mormon Fort: Birthplace of Las Vegas, Nevada". Teaching with Historic Places Program. National Park Service. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
^ "A History of The Old Fort". Friends of the Fort. August 20, 1931. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
^ Carleton calls it Fort Navajo, but by referring to the ferry and Major Hoffman's route up the Colorado in his campaign against the Mohave Indians it clearly indicates he means Fort Mojave. He also indicates it will then draw supplies from Los Angeles. Fort Mojave was the terminus of the supply route known as the Mojave Road from San Bernardino and Los Angeles.
^ 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.
^ Aurora Hunt (2004). The Army of the Pacific, 1860-1866. Frontier Classics Series. Stackpole Books. pp. 202–203. ISBN 978-0-8117-2978-9.
^ "Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort Historic State Park Brochure" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
^ "History of Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park". Nevada State Parks. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
^ "Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort Visitors Center". Special Collections and Archives. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved November 23, 2019.