History 2700
11-29-01
Service Learning
Since we are both from Clark County we wanted to understand its past and history in more depth. We wanted more than just a textbook explanation of its past but more of a hands on experience. The glitter and controversial beginning of Las Vegas often overshadows that of its neighbor Henderson. Clark County and its surrounding area has made leaps and bounds with its growth of population, technology and residency within the last 50 years. Now Henderson is one of the fastest growing cities and is home to more than 184,491 people.
Contacts:
Mark Hall Patton is the curator of the Clark County Heritage museum and also the Cannon Aviation Museum in Las Vegas. He is a member of the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society. They can be contacted at:
700 Twin Lakes State Mail Complex in Las Vegas, Nevada 89158
Mark can be reached by phone at (702) 455-7955 at the museum.
Susan Turgen is an assistant at the museum who gave us projects to do and explained the priorities of the museum itself. She is in charge of new collections and volunteers who come to help in the work they do there. She is available by calling the museum at (702) 455-7965.
Web sites that were used for information about the museum were:
www. co.clark.nv.us/parks/Clark_County_Museum.htm
www. destinationhenderson .com
Intended Audience:
People from all around the world come to the Heritage Museum to learn about the exciting history of Nevada. The most common visitors that attend the museum are elementary schools on field trips. Around October 31st for Nevada Day many schools come to learn more about their heritage. Families are also frequent visitors to help their children learn more about history. The museum is very mush directed towards helping kids understand the past of Clark County. There are hand on activities and movies that can relate to children.
Work Load and Task:
We contacted Mr. Patton in early October to November about weekends that were available for service. Once a direct time was set we drove to Henderson just three hours from Cedar City. While there we worked on a new collection that came in, organizing slides and entering them into their catalog. Having collections put in a catalog is a task that every museum takes part. With organization collections will be easier to place in the future. We helped their publishing and advertising for the museum by labeling and distributing flyer and mailers. The more information and tours a museum gives the greater chance it had in the future to expand. We also helped the grounds keeper go through the restored houses and helped the ongoing tours by ensuring that children were supervised through out the museum. We helped with the cleaning of the Native American exhibit were children can feel how the Indians ground up corn to make Maize.
Henderson History:
Henderson is a relatively young city. Incorporated in only 1953 Henderson was actually “born in America’s defense” ten years earlier during World War II with the building of the Basic Magnesium Plant. The plant supplied the US war Department with magnesium for ammunitions and airplane parts. The heritage of that Plant still remains an important part of Henderson culture.
A man by the name of Harry Springer was vital to Henderson growth and production of magnesium during the war. For three years Springer wandered the mountains in Nye County looking for precious metals. What he found was a huge deposit of brucite. Nearby was a large deposit of magnesite that was later discovered. Together brucite and magnesite could produce magnesium, however at the time there was no great need for magnesium, that is until around the time of the war. In September of 1939 German troops invaded Poland and both England and France declared war on Germany. Magnesium was now in great need for worldwide production. Springer claimed more 70 million tons of commercial grade ore and it was the largest deposit in the United States. In the early 1940s the English and American forces united in the formation of Basic Magnesium Incorporated. They were able to produce magnesium together. The two were in search for the “miracle metal” that when alloyed with stronger metals it made airplanes lighter, faster and more maneuverable. Magnesium was their answer. Powdered magnesium was also used to make incendiary bullets and bombs. BMI signed a contract with the Defense Plant Corporation for the construction of a plant in Midway. When Pearl harbor was bombed BMI’s plant was well on its way to construction. This created a new community of workers that settled in the valley of Henderson.
Near the wars end in 1947 there was no longer a need for mass production of magnesium. BMI now employed 14,000 workers who left due to the decrease in work force. Half the town was empty and Henderson was on the verge of being a ghost town and becoming nothing but a memory. In last efforts to save the dwindling city of Henderson the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce invited the Nevada State Legislature to spend time in southern Nevada and visit the Hoover Dam. The Legislature’s purpose was to evaluate the administration of the Basic Magnesium Project and to estimate the possibility of constructing power generators at the dam. The legislature unanimously approved the bill and the Colorado River Commission of Nevada was give the authority to purchase the plant for the price of only 6 million dollars, thus saving the city.
In the beginning there were two main small cities that converted to Henderson, they were Pittman and Midway. Pittman later declined in population after the construction of the dam but Midway, getting its name from being in the middle of the dam and Las Vegas, it kept growing and later became what is now the main part of Henderson. For twenty years after the cities purchase of BMI Henderson stayed a small factory town. Many of the original homes still stand in the older parts of Henderson. One of these homes is restored and located at the Clark County Heritage museum. Henderson is still fairly young to its Nevada predecessors but is now the second largest city in Nevada. It has been home to rapid growth and production.
Museum History:
There are two main parts to the Clark County Heritage Museum, the inside gallery and the houses that scatter the out side of the museum. The houses located at the Clark county Heritage museum have been fully restored from the original architecture and are furnished from the specific period of time. Each home tells a story of Hendersons past and the people that use to live there. Guests can walk from house to house and admire the scenery and their history.
One of the original Henderson homes is the Townsite house that was considered to be temporary to house those who worked for the local magnesium plant. During World War II the United States government needed a production plant for magnesium, the principle ingredient in incendiary bombs. The U.S. Office of Production Management obtained 2,000 acres of uninhabited land between Boulder City and Las Vegas. On September 3, 1941 a contract was signed to build a magnesium processing plant to be 1-½ miles long and ¾ miles.
By January 1,1942 several thousand men and women lived in the area. One thousand frame houses were built near the plant. The Townsite was made complete with the addition of 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 given that name in honor of Charles B. Henderson, a Nevada attorney, U.S. senator, and grandson of Louis Rice Bradley.
The interior walls of the house are made of ¼ inch plywood with no insulation. Batten strips cover these and of the plywood. The exterior is of redwood siding. The windows are situated as to provide cross ventilation without the need for air conditioning. These houses provided very durable in the desert climate
Other houses include the “The Beckley House.” Will Beckley arrived in Las Vegas in 1908 and opened a small clothing store in a tent house. He resided in his tent house until 1910 when he proposed to Leva Grimes, a teacher from Illinois, and brought his new bride to Las Vegas, a desert village, beside the railroad. Two years later in 1912 they built the well -known “Beckley House” at 120 Fourth Street for $2,500. He moved to a store in the old Nevada hotel, located directly across the street from the Union Pacific Depot. It was an excellent location because at the time virtually all travel into Las Vegas was done by train. With very little money and a lot of ambition, this young courageous couple would become one of the first success stories in Las Vegas. Will was not only an entrepreneur with a reputation for fair dealing, but he was also a builder and shaper of the development of the community from “Watering Stop #19” to the Las Vegas we know today. Leva exemplified the gracious living in a desert town through some of the harshest periods in Southern Nevada’s history. Their home was the center of social activity. Will and Leva lived in the house continuously until Will’s death in 1965. Leva remained in the house until 1978 when at the age of 93 ill heath forced her to move in with family members.
The Beckley house was built in 1912 in the California bungalow style. This was a popular design of the period because it was economical to build and live in. Incorporated into the design were various options that made it easy to expand when needed. Although the Beckley House does not exemplify ornate craftsmanship or elaborate complex forms that most people associate with “historic Buildings” it is a fine example of the house style that prevailed in desert communities for the first two decades of the 20th century.
When the Beckley House was originally built, it contained four major rooms and irregular shaped open rear porch. Between February 1923 and 1925 some major additions and alterations were made to the house. A brick fireplace and chimney were added to one end of the living room and the original kitchen was extended away from the side of the house and converted to a dining room. The Beckley house became a local landmark. The last pioneer home in the downtown Las Vegas area. Since it could not be preserved at its original location due to developmental and economic pressures which would cause its demise, the Junior League, in cooperation with ther Clark County Department of Parks and Recreation, moved the house to its present sit on April 16, 1979 to become part of the Clark County Heritage Museum.
The Beckley family heirs, private citizen, and local merchants have donated furnishing, items of historic significance, materials, and labor to make this renovation a viable part of the history of Clark County. The Junior League was pleased to dedicate the Beckley House to the people of Clark County for public display on May 5, 1983.
The Giles/Barcus house was originally built in Goldfield, Nevada. In the fall of 1902 gold was discovered on Columbia Mountain by two prospectors, Billy Marsh and Harry Stimler. They called their camp “Grandpa.” After news of high-grade ore circulated in 1903, a rush to the area began and in May the district was Renamed Goldfield. By 1908 Goldfield was the largest city in Nevada with a population of 20,000 served by five banks, two daily and three weekly newspapers, two stock exchanges, three railroads, and four schools.
When Edith Giles Barcus moved to Las Vegas in 1955, she couldn’t leave her home behind. She had it moved to the corner of Hacienda and Giles Streets where it served as the “odd shop” and antique store.
The next house on the block is the Babcock and Wilcox house was originally built in Boulder City in 1933. Hoover Dam, among the greatest of modern engineering projects, was so gigantic in its dimensions and so vast in its economic significance that progress of its construction during 1931 to 1935 was followed with interest throughout the world. To house the workers of Hoover Dam, the Government set aside $2,000,000 for the construction of Boulder City. The Townsite included about 300 acres and was designed by SV.R. DeBoer.
The original location of the Babcock and Wilcox Company house was 441 Hotel Plaza in Boulder City, Nevada. Contractor Paul S. Webb of Boulder City constructed twelve houses in April of 1933 for Babcock and Wilcox Company employees. They were designed by architect E.D. Wagner of Akron, Ohio.
For years the houses were owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power that used them as housing for their employees in Boulder City. All of the houses were listen on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1987 the houses were auctioned and needed to be removed from their original location to make room for a new Post Office. This house was donated to the Clark County Heritage Museum so that many people could enjoy it and the story it has to tell.
The other part of the museum is the main gallery in the museum. The gallery is the remnants of one of the first pioneers in the area and creator of the first museum in the valley. It is the story of a woman named Anna Roberts Parks Galle. The Heritage museum was first called the Southern Nevada Museum. At the beginning of 1994 the museum had even earlier roots connected with that of Anna Galle. Near Fremont an old barracks was packed with history and was open to the public.
Anna’s road to historical conservation is not in any local history books in Henderson, most likely because of her gender and the time in which she was successful. She started her journey in 1911 when she came to the valley as a 22 years old who accompanied her 55-year-old boyfriend, William Roberts. Then her name was Anna Nuhfer. They started a store downtown which records are still readily available. It seems that Anna ran the store all by herself and kept all the records. Roberts lead a group creating Nevada Lime and Plaster. This later provided the foundation for the first runways at McCarren Airport. Anna went on trips selling its stock and raising nearly 64,000 dollars for the company. She did all this at the age of only 23 years old. She became the company’s corporate secretary and made all of the contracts, land deeds and other documents for the next four years. In 1914 Anna and Roberts were married. Together they opened up another new business. This time it was an Undertaking company. Anna went to school in Los Angeles to learn the art of embalming. While gone her husband was doing some work of his own, she returned home only to find that he and his mistress were living above the mortuary. Anna took all of the financial records and divorced Roberts with a hefty settlement.
In Anna’s independence she opened up her own mortuary and named it Palm Mortuary, which still stands on the same street as the Heritage Museum. As a hobby Anna began to collect items of that time and of past history. She traded with the Paiutes for arrowheads, baskets and blankets. She also explored the desert finding artifacts, fossils, minerals and collecting old mining equipment. These artifacts and the records she kept of her businesses were some of the first objects that went in the museum and they reveal the great history of the valley. Anna went on to make museums of her own about Henderson and of all her travels and experiences. This work is the basis on which the Heritage Museum stands on today.
Ones heritage is an important part of every ones life to understand. Working hand in hand with the museum to preserve ones native heritage is essential for future generations. By helping the local historical districts we learned more about how our town was born in a sense. Helping the historians and others who worked at the museum enables them to provide a greater service to the community. Providing organization and other remedial tasks helps historians focus more on bigger projects. The museum in Henderson is very pressed for space, it hold many treasures that they have no room to show. This experience opened our eyes to the needs of museums for support. They are creating a new video about Anna Roberts Parks and are constantly creating pieces of history for people to see and enjoy. Museums rely greatly on the community around them for support and we were glad to part take in part of Clark County’s efforts to save its Heritage. We learned not only where Clark County’s past was hands on but we also got a taste of where it was going.