![[190]](http://www.nv-landmarks.com/Landmark%20Photos/cl/shl190.jpg)
| Original Homesite of Pioneer Las Vegan, "Pop" Squires (1865-1958) |
36.16931, -115.14078"I almost got thrown out of a bar ... nearly got run down by a driver on his cell phone ... had to fork out a stiff eight dollar parking fee ... and STILL no marker in sight. I don't see the magic of the Fremont Street Experience but at least I know where I can get my eight dollars back." -- Journal Entry, March 2009
According to the State Marker System ...
"Located off Interstae Highway 15 at Apex, south six miles."
Today, this marker is currently missing
Original Date Visited: 3/17/09
Signed: No
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Currently Missing -- Last Seen: February 1995 According to the State Archives in Carson City has recorded the exact site of "Pop" Squires' original homesite 407 Fremont Street. Here's the problem: that address was archived in 1958, the year that he passed when presumably that address went into records. After this date, the Las Vegas Strip was widened and began to stretch further north eventually encompassing his homesite. The project completely reconstructed the downtown/Strip area even so much as revising most of the address numbers to make room for a longer street. In 1964, the Strip as we know it was born. Little if anything was left of the neighborhood's former days. Sadly, the property's exact location was lost and "407 Fremont Street" was ultimately an estimation based on street numbers before the reconstruction. Here is what you'll find at 407 Fremont Street ...  This exciting picture of a sidewalk along Las Vegas Blvd correlates with Pop's address. The green wall you see is a parking garage for the Fremont Street Experience and for all we know, now sits atop the approximate site of his old homesite. Did you think this was going to be an easy conquer? Here's where things get doubly difficult. Thanks to these estimations there are also various location descriptions for Marker 190 itself. While the State Archives has recorded Squires' homesite at 407 Fremont Street, NDOT records show the actual marker location at 417 Fremont Street ... a distance of only one block. Somehow an avid marker hunter like myself would've spotted the thing if it were there.   The second segment of Fremont Street (and most well-known section of Las Vegas) is the actual Fremont Street Experience. At one time rumor had it that [190] itself might've been relocated here ... next to the iconic "Vegas Vic" neon sign. Well I doused that flame real quick. I walked the Experience from end to end and didn't find a scrap of evidence of the marker's relocation. The notion of it being moved here seems a bit unrealistic anyway and anybody trying to spot this "miniature" marker would find it extremely daunting. The sheer purpose, cost and labor of moving it the marker here would be pointless. As far as the records show, [190] has been missing for a very long time and might very well have been the first ever MIA in the system. In case you're wondering, I walked all four levels of the parking garage and found nothing. Oh ... and remember Hennessey's? Well, I checked with the folks inside to see if they knew anything about Squires, an historical marker, or "any blue signs." Unless I was buying a drink or dining in they unofficially gave me boot. I also spoke with a few of the security personnel, custodians, and volunteers who worked at the Experience and as expected all of them replied with blank stares and "I dunnos." The Jeopardy theme rang seemed to be in high supply that day. If only the City of Las Vegas remembered name of the man who more or less made Las Vegas happen. |
Exact Description:
He founded the Las Vegas Age newspaper and was the voice of the community for more than a quarter century. A visionary, he helped make Hoover Dam a reality.
Next Marker:
Related Links & Markers:
C.P. Squires: Las Vegas Review Journal