Abstract
The J. T. McWilliams Photograph Collection contains photographs and postcards from Nevada and Southern California from approximately 1900 to 1970. The materials include postcards depicting Las Vegas, Nevada casinos such as El Rancho Vegas and the Golden Nugget Gambling Hall. The materials also include postcards depicting towns and scenes in Nevada such as Carson City, Rhyolite, Red Rock Canyon, and covered wagons traveling to Las Vegas. Lastly, the materials contain several photographs of the McWilliams family, possibly while they were living in what is now Las Vegas, Nevada.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The J. T. McWilliams Photograph Collection contains photographs and postcards from Nevada and Southern California from approximately 1900 to 1970. The materials include postcards depicting Las Vegas, Nevada casinos such as El Rancho Vegas and the Golden Nugget Gambling Hall. The materials also include postcards depicting towns and scenes in Nevada such as Carson City, Rhyolite, Red Rock Canyon, and covered wagons traveling to Las Vegas. Lastly, the materials contain several photographs of the McWilliams family, possibly while they were living in what is now Las Vegas, Nevada.
Access Note
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain in original order.
Biographical / Historical Note
Pioneer, engineer, and surveyor J. T. McWilliams was born in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, on December 10, 1863. In 1879, McWilliams moved to Detroit, Michigan, before settling in Chicago, Illinois in 1883. While in Chicago, McWilliams studied civil engineering at the University of Chicago, and in 1884 he began surveying for the Northern Pacific Railroad. In 1893, he was appointed a delegate to the National Irrigation Congress in Los Angeles, California by the governor of South Dakota. While in Southern California, McWilliams pursued surveying work in Needles, California. While in Needles, he met his eventual wife Iona, and they were married at Fort Mohave in 1897.
For the next four years, McWilliams designed municipal water systems for towns in Arizona and California. In 1901, the McWilliams Family moved to Goodsprings, Nevada, and they moved again when he was asked to survey the Stewart Ranch in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1902. In 1904, he purchased land from Helen Stewart in what is now downtown Las Vegas, and he called it McWilliamstown. McWilliams participated in the 1905 land auction that helped establish the Las Vegas townsite.
McWilliams feuded with the Union Pacific Railroad over several issues, including water rights, land claims, and timber claims. His reputation in Southern Nevada was built in part on defeating the railroad when it was dumping waste in Las Vegas Creek and forcing the railroad to pump water into "Old Town," or present day Las Vegas.
McWilliams died in 1941. J. T. McWilliams Elementary School was named in his honor.
Source:
K. J. Evans, "J. T. McWilliams," Las Vegas Review-Journal, February 10, 1999. http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/jt-mcwilliams
Preferred Citation
J. T. McWilliams Photograph Collection, 1900-1970. PH-00025. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Permalink
Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1971; accession number T62.
Processing Note
Materials were processed by Special Collections staff. In 2015, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Lindsay Oden wrote the collection description in compliance with current professional standards.