Las Vegas Mormon Fort and Rancho
(Nevada's Oldest Building)

"... An MIA right across the street from an MIA. Lovely. Dare I say this is almost embarrassing. #35, of all the markers to go MIA ... a marker representing the first settlement in the state. Hopefully any research I do at home will redeem this sad story, if only for a little while. Miller time." -- March 2009

Entrance to Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park - Las Vegas

Las Vegas & Clark County
36.180310, -115.132850

Original Date Visited: 3/14/09
Revisited: 11/16/22
Signed: No

Notes: While there's no fee to view this marker, you'll need to conquer it between the hours of 8am and 5pm, Wednesday through Sunday when the park is open. Otherwise, you'll come across a locked gate. On my first revisiting, I was excited to finally grab this sucker after a decades' long wait, only to find my timing was off by a day. Feel free to use the visitor parking for a quick, no-fee conquering of the marker and its clamper, but any and all visitations into the fort itself requires a state park fee. See the link below for the park's website.

Street View

Here's what you'll see!

Exact Description:
Las Vegas had its beginning at this location on June 14, 1855, when thirty-two Mormon missionaries arrived from Utah under the leadership of William Bringhurst. They set to work establishing farm fields that summer, and began to build a 150-foot square adobe fort that September, enclosing eight two-story houses. They cultivated small gardens and fields, planted fruit and shade trees, and tried to convert the local Southern Paiutes.

Most of the Mormons departed in 1857, and by 1865, Octavius Decatur Gass began developing the Las Vegas Rancho, using the adobe structures as headquarters. He farmed and raised beef cattle, supplying travellers and miners in the Potosi region.

Helen J. Stewart, owner of the property from 1882 to 1902, expanded the ranch to 1,800 acres, which she sold to the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad for the Las Vegas townsite. The Company auctioned the land on May 15, 1905, starting the process of building the Las Vegas around you today.

Marker 35 was resurrected during the Nevada 150th Sesquicentennial.

We're also paying attention to the fantastic clamper marker that stood for the disappearance of Marker 35. This one is so well done it could've easily been used as an impromptu replacement for Marker 35 and we would've been just fine with that. You can find this little guy just to the south of the museum entrance.