Clark County Heritage Museum
Encyclopedia
Clark County Heritage Museum is located in Henderson
, Nevada
and is owned and operated by Clark County
. The museum includes the Anna Roberts Parks Exhibit Hall and Heritage Street which contains eight historic buildings from the county.
The museum focuses on the history of the southernmost county in Nevada with emphasis on the early Native American
inhabitants such as the Paiute people, as well as mining
, the impact of the railroads, and gaming
. Exhibits include several historic houses as well as a recreated ghost town
.
Anna Roberts Parks died in a car crash in 1962, leaving her collections and property to her only daughter, Edith Jennings Mariano. The daughter, Edith, continued seeking a local sponsor who was willing to create a proper museum and one that allowed her to honor her mother's wishes and keep the collection in Southern Nevada where it belonged. Following another break-in at the warehouse near 21st and Fremont Street, a local Nevada historian, Maryellen Vallier Sadovich contacted Edith and bolstered the search for a sponsor. Maryellen brought the collection to the attention of Dick Pryor, a member of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce. The Henderson Chamber of Commerce was interested, but like other potential sponsors, they expressed their uncertainty over where they could house the collection and how they could raise sufficient money to build a proper museum building. In response to Maryellen's letter dated 11 Jun 1966, the Chamber announced the creation of a permanent committee to study the problem. The initial three committee members were Frank Schreck, Glen Taylor, and Dick Pryor. By January, 1968, the Chamber of Commerce had voted to go ahead with the plans for a museum building, but they had been told previously that the Henderson School facilities were not an option. About that same time, Maryellen Sadovich called to report that the collections had been vandalized yet again from their storage location, primarily in the Army barrack building at 21st and Fremont Street. This prompted a call to the Glen Taylor, a member of the school board. Within an hour, Glen had secured the Townsite school's gymnasium on Water Street for the project. Months of cautious obstructions and objections about using school property for the museum were abruptly replaced a sense of urgency to protect & preserve the collections by moving it to Henderson where it could be organized and safe from further theft or vandalism.
In light of these new developments, Dick Pryor, Maryellen Sadovich, Glen Taylor, and Ellen Shirley-Frehner immediately drove to Las Vegas to supervise moving the collection from the Army barracks to the school gymnasium in Henderson. By 11 Jan 1968, the move was complete and the collection was secured in the school gymnasium, awaiting a good cleaning, organization, and preparation for display.
The new museum became a community project for the close-knit community of Henderson. To properly structure the new museum, By-Laws were drawn up by District Judge, Jim Santini. Bill Boyd drew up a contract that legally transferred the collections from Mrs. Jennings to the Chamber of Commerce. The new museum became a legal entity on 19 March 1968. The name was later changed to the Southern Nevada Museum.
The museum's name has since been changed to "Clark County Museum" or "Clark County Heritage Museum".
The administrator of the Clark County Heritage Museum is Mark Hall-Patton who is a 20th century historian
and has been featured on Pawn Stars
many times as a
recurring expert.
The Candlelight Wedding Chapel, previously located on the strip, is now housed on the Museum grounds, at the end of Heritage Street. A historic railroad cottage from downtown Las Vegas has also been relocated to the Museum grounds, but is not yet open to the public. One can look inside at period furnishings from the porch.
Henderson, Nevada
-Demographics:According to the 2000 census, there were 175,381 people, 66,331 households, and 47,095 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,200.8 people per square mile . There were 71,149 housing units at an average density of 892.8 per square mile...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
and is owned and operated by Clark County
Clark County, Nevada
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,375,765 people, 512,253 households, and 339,693 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 71.6% White , 9.1% Black, 5.7% Asian, 0.8% American Indian and 12.8% of other or mixed race. 22.0% were Hispanic of any race...
. The museum includes the Anna Roberts Parks Exhibit Hall and Heritage Street which contains eight historic buildings from the county.
The museum focuses on the history of the southernmost county in Nevada with emphasis on the early Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
inhabitants such as the Paiute people, as well as mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, the impact of the railroads, and gaming
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
. Exhibits include several historic houses as well as a recreated ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
.
History
Anna Roberts came to Nevada in 1905 with her husband, William Roberts. He was the first mortician in Las Vegas, and together they travelled southern Nevada in conjunction with his business. Anna became a collector of historical artifacts, minerals, and clothing. Her marriage to the much older William Parks ended in the mid 1920's. William removed to California, but the younger Anna Roberts remained in Nevada with her daughter, Edith Jennings Mariano, born 1920, and her widowed mother. Having completed undertaker training and being licensed in both Nevada and California, Anna continued her first husbands occupation and continued her travels throughout southern Nevada, while continuing to add to her collections. She opened Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas in May 1926 and married Gene Parks about the same time, becoming known as Anna Roberts Parks. She initially stored her burgeoning collection inside her home, or scattered about her 5 acre property. As her collection outgrew her own property, much of it was moved to an Army building near 21st and Fremont Streets. This location proved less satisfactory since people broke in and stole valuable and historic artifacts.Anna Roberts Parks died in a car crash in 1962, leaving her collections and property to her only daughter, Edith Jennings Mariano. The daughter, Edith, continued seeking a local sponsor who was willing to create a proper museum and one that allowed her to honor her mother's wishes and keep the collection in Southern Nevada where it belonged. Following another break-in at the warehouse near 21st and Fremont Street, a local Nevada historian, Maryellen Vallier Sadovich contacted Edith and bolstered the search for a sponsor. Maryellen brought the collection to the attention of Dick Pryor, a member of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce. The Henderson Chamber of Commerce was interested, but like other potential sponsors, they expressed their uncertainty over where they could house the collection and how they could raise sufficient money to build a proper museum building. In response to Maryellen's letter dated 11 Jun 1966, the Chamber announced the creation of a permanent committee to study the problem. The initial three committee members were Frank Schreck, Glen Taylor, and Dick Pryor. By January, 1968, the Chamber of Commerce had voted to go ahead with the plans for a museum building, but they had been told previously that the Henderson School facilities were not an option. About that same time, Maryellen Sadovich called to report that the collections had been vandalized yet again from their storage location, primarily in the Army barrack building at 21st and Fremont Street. This prompted a call to the Glen Taylor, a member of the school board. Within an hour, Glen had secured the Townsite school's gymnasium on Water Street for the project. Months of cautious obstructions and objections about using school property for the museum were abruptly replaced a sense of urgency to protect & preserve the collections by moving it to Henderson where it could be organized and safe from further theft or vandalism.
In light of these new developments, Dick Pryor, Maryellen Sadovich, Glen Taylor, and Ellen Shirley-Frehner immediately drove to Las Vegas to supervise moving the collection from the Army barracks to the school gymnasium in Henderson. By 11 Jan 1968, the move was complete and the collection was secured in the school gymnasium, awaiting a good cleaning, organization, and preparation for display.
The new museum became a community project for the close-knit community of Henderson. To properly structure the new museum, By-Laws were drawn up by District Judge, Jim Santini. Bill Boyd drew up a contract that legally transferred the collections from Mrs. Jennings to the Chamber of Commerce. The new museum became a legal entity on 19 March 1968. The name was later changed to the Southern Nevada Museum.
The museum's name has since been changed to "Clark County Museum" or "Clark County Heritage Museum".
The administrator of the Clark County Heritage Museum is Mark Hall-Patton who is a 20th century historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and has been featured on Pawn Stars
Pawn Stars
Pawn Stars is an American reality television series on the History Channel, produced in Manhattan by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24-hour family business operated by patriarch Richard...
many times as a
recurring expert.
Historic houses
- original Henderson B.M.I. townsite house circa 1941 to 1944
- Giles/Barcus House (circa 1905 from Goldfield, NevadaGoldfield, NevadaGoldfield is an unincorporated community and the county seat of Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States, with a resident population of 440 at the 2000 census. It is located about southeast of Carson City, along U.S...
) - Beckley House (1912 from Las Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
) - Goumond House from 1935 and restored in the 1950s.
- Beckley House built in 1912, and renovated in the 1920s
- Babcock and Wilcox House from the 1930s
- Townsite House from the 1940s
The Candlelight Wedding Chapel, previously located on the strip, is now housed on the Museum grounds, at the end of Heritage Street. A historic railroad cottage from downtown Las Vegas has also been relocated to the Museum grounds, but is not yet open to the public. One can look inside at period furnishings from the porch.
Transportation
- 1932 Boulder City train depot
- 1946 PlymouthPlymouth (automobile)Plymouth was a marque of automobile based in the United States, produced by the Chrysler Corporation and its successor DaimlerChrysler.-Origins:...
Coupe - Gourmond House (1930s)
- 1959 Studebaker LarkStudebaker LarkThe Studebaker Lark is a "compact car" which was produced by Studebaker from 1959 to 1966.From its introduction in early 1959 until 1962, the Lark was a product of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. In mid-1962, the company dropped "Packard" from its name and reverted to its pre-1954 name, the...