The Lunch Box Journals

Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas (Spanish for “the meadows”) is now a metropolis of more than two million people but wasn’t always so… Today most people think of Las Vegas as synonomous with the glitz and glamour of the Strip and mega-casinos. Since what happens on the Strip stays on the Strip (!), I’m only going to journal about my visit to Las Vegas outside of the casino area with an eclectic collection of four ”other” Vegas experiences: the Old Mormon Fort, the Neon Boneyard, Ethel M’s, and Red Rock Natural Conservation Area. Let’s get started with a little history.

The Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort
The geology of the Las Vegas basin consists of a small oasis in the middle of an enormous shallow “bowl” surrounded by rugged desert mountain scape. What little moisture that falls on the surrounding mountains seeps through the rocky ground to the low point of the bowl and before the development of the valley briefly created a small creek that ran about five miles across the valley floor before disappearing into the ground. This persistent source of water was a key resting spot along the Old Spanish Trail between Santa Fe, New Mexico and the California coast, a place where travelers could stock up on water before the brutal trek across the desert to the Los Angeles basin. In 1855 Brigham Young sent a group to settle along Las Vegas Creek and they built the first structure in the meadows, a fort on a rise just southwest of the creek. Remains of the Old Mormon Fort still stand just north of the downtown gaming district, partly reconstructed on the ruins of the original fort. It turned out that water was really the only natural resource in the area. The ground was so sterile that crops would not grow in abundance, even when watered. The Mormons only stayed for three years and in 1858 abandoned the fort. The site became the center of a ranch ran by a widow, Helen Stewart, until 1902 when she sold the ranch to William Clark, senator from Montana, for his San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. It is now a state park.

The fort was built of adobe bricks and was approximately a square of 150 feet on each side. Part of the fort walls as well as livestock pens have been reconstructed on the original site.

A long low adobe building on the east side of the square contains the only original remains of the site. A photograph from 1905 shows part of the original structure that was later expanded into the current building below right.

The interior is now used for displays with the original adobe bricks from 1857 exposed in the wall.

The south room is the only complete room remaining from the 1857 Mormon building.

After the railroad bought the ranch the Las Vegas train depot was built about a mile further south (now the “old” downtown casino district). The ranch became the first Las Vegas ” resort”, catering to wealthy clients looking for a retreat in the desert. Luxurious tents were raised along the creek to house the vacationers. As you can see from this photograph from the early 1900’s the Las Vegas Creek really was a small stream of water threading between the trees.

The state has attempted to recreate what the creek might have looked like as it meandered along the side of the fort.

Even after the railroad came to town Las Vegas did not particularly prosper until the 1930’s when a calculated decision was made by the city fathers to legalize divorce and gambling in an effort to draw people. Organized crime came to the area and became the genesis of the modern casino experience. However, the biggest development in the history of the meadows came in 1936 with the completion of Hoover Dam about 30 miles to the southeast. With the completion of the dam an ample supply of water and electricity was assured. Electricity brought air conditioning to the valley and the boom was on. The other thing that electricity brought to the valley was the “glitter” of Vegas, neon lights, and our next stop is a museum dedicated to the memory of the lights of Las Vegas, the Neon Boneyard.

Neon Boneyard
The Neon Boneyard is also located in the museum district of Las Vegas, which is on North Las Vegas Boulevard north of I-515 just the other side from the downtown casino district. Housed on the site of the historic La Concha Motel, the museum was founded in 1996 to help preserve the neon history of Las Vegas. Restoration is a costly process but is well underway with many restored signs from the early years posted around the downtown Fremont Street Experience. Driving west on the Boulder Highway the view as you approach Las Vegas Boulevard is full of restored and new neon.

Turning right and heading north on Las Vegas Boulevard, the Neon Boneyard appears on your right on the hill above the Old Mormon State Park. Access to the museum (which is outdoors) is by a rather tightly controlled tour process. Only 20 people at a time are allowed in a tour, the group must stay together, and the guide is constantly nagging the group to stay together and move through the display as a group. I get it, tours are scheduled every half hour so you have to keep moving to stay ahead or the next group, but it was rather annoying. Having said that, the tour guide with her very rehearsed “shtick” was informative and mostly able to be tuned out as we toured the display. Enjoy the Neon Boneyard…

Look closely at the picture below left and you can see short poles sticking out all around the “M”. In the days before lifts were developed, workers had to climb the signs using these poles like a ladder to replace lightbulbs and service the sign. Not sure that would be something I would have signed up for!

And, of course this IS Las Vegas, so on the way out of the tour (which exits through the gift shop as all tours seem to do) we experience the quintessential Las Vegas experience, a wedding party. Yes, this wedding was going to shortly take place in the Neon Boneyard. Waiting in the gift shop is the bridal party, the bride is resplendent in green hair and an Elvis impersonator is getting his instructions from the wedding planner. Why didn’t my daughter do this??? I could have saved a LOT of money…

Next, you can’t explore Las Vegas off the Strip without a visit to Ethel M’s, the famous local chocolatier.

Ethel M’s
Tucked away in a very tasteful setting (no pun intended!) in Henderson, the southeastern suburb of Las Vegas, is Ethel M’s. Ethel M’s is owned by the Mars candy company and is named after the mother of Forrest Mars, Sr, who created Ethel M’s in 1978 to relieve his boredom in retirement. The company was located in Nevada because state laws allowed him to create liquor filled chocolates.

A self-guided tour lets you walk by the process as chocolates are created and boxed for shipping. During the time that I was there the room where chocolates are created was not terribly busy though there were tubs of peanut brittle in the background waiting to be boxed in while a crew was packaging caramel apples. In the adjacent area the chocolate boxing and packaging line was operating.

A pleasant surprise was the renowned cactus garden outside. Nearly as large as the factory itself, it was a somewhat cool oasis on a very warm day.

Finally, a respite from the city of two million people lies only 30 minutes west of the strip, Red Rock Conservation Area. The explosion in the population of Las Vegas in the last 25 years has led to the valley nearly being filled with construction. Charleston Street heads straight from the strip to the mountains looming to the west. It’s a hazy morning but you can see the signature red rock in the distance.

After Charleston crosses the loop freeway the road stretches a couple of miles into the mountains in a broad swoop.

Even in the morning during the middle of the week the area is crowded – every parking lot on the 13 mile loop is full so picture taking is confined to pull-offs along the way.