Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park is a state park of Nevada, USA, containing the Old Mormon Fort, the first structure built by people of European blood in what would become Las Vegas fifty years later.
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 U.S. 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.
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 midpoint on the trail from Salt Lake City, Utah and Los Angeles, California.
The fort was surrounded by 14-foot (4.3 m) high adobe walls that extended for 150 feet (46 m). While called a fort, it was never home to any military troops but like many Mormon forts provided a defense for the local settlers against an Indian attack. As a result of the beginning of the Utah War, the Mormons abandoned the fort.
Around 1860, a small detachment of U.S. Army troops was assigned to protect the settlers at the fort.
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Posted by Ken Lund on 2010-06-01 03:28:48
Tagged: , clark , nevada , lasvegas