Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort

In 1855, 30 Mormon missionaries settled in Las Vegas and built an adobe fort, the first permanent structure in the valley. At the time, several springs and a three-mile creek, created by aquifers, made Las Vegas Springs a popular rest stop for travelers, especially after John C. Fremont had mentioned the oasis in a book in 1844.

Native Americans had been using this area for seasonal camping for thousands of years.

The mission and the fort were abandoned two years later. Octavius Gass bought the site in 1865 and turned it into a ranch. Because he defaulted on a loan, he lost the ranch to Archibald and Helen Stewart. Helen Stewart sold the ranch, the surrounding land and the water rights (her husband had been killed in 1884) to the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad company in 1902, the company that officially started the town of Las Vegas in 1905.

In 1972, the Mormon Fort was placed on the National Register of Historic Place. It is located on the south-east corner of Las Vegas Blvd and Washington Ave. Call 486-3511 for current information on park hours.