Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park

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The Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park is a state park that contains the Old Mormon Fort, the first structure built by Europeans in what would become Las Vegas, Nevada 50 years later.

The first settlers, Mormon missionaries, 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 mid point on the trail from Salt Lake City, Utah and Los Angeles, California.

The fort was surrounded by 14 foot high adobe walls that extended for 150 feet. While called a fort, it never really was home to any military troops. Around 1860, a small detachment of U.S. Army troops were assigned to protect the settlers at the fort. They stayed for about 5 years.

In present day Las Vegas, the site is just east of Las Vegas Boulevard and slightly north of the downtown area and Fremont Street. This is the only state park located in a city that actually houses the first building ever built in that city.

A visitor center is available to help explain the history of the fort. The fort is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site is marked as Nevada Historical Marker 35.

[edit] History

Ownership of the fort and the land around it changed hands many times and it had several close calls with destruction. Protection finally seems assured when the state acquired the site as a state park in the 1990s.

While the fort was called Fort Baker during the Civil War, this was only as a deception by the Union Army since no troops were ever stationed there.

At some point, the now defunct Las Vegas Land and Water Company acquired the property. 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.

A $4.5 million renovation was completed in 2005.

[edit] External links

• Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park website

Nevada state parks

Beaver Dam State Park | Belmont Courthouse State Historic Park | Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park | Big Bend State Recreation Area | Cathedral Gorge State Park | Cave Lake State Park | Dayton State Park | Dangberg Ranch State Park | Echo Canyon State Park | Elgin School State Park | Floyd Lamb State Park | Fort Churchill State Historic Park | Kershaw-Ryan State Park | Lahontan State Recreation Area | Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park | Mormon Station State Historic Park | Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park | Rye Patch State Recreation Area | South Fork State Recreation Area | Spring Mountain Ranch State Park | Spring Valley State Park | Valley of Fire State Park | Walker Lake State Recreation Area | Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park | Washoe Lake State Park | Wild Horse State Recreation Area |