Abstract
The C. D. Baker Engineering Field Notebooks are comprised of the notebooks and informational texts Charles Duncan "C. D." Baker created and used between 1909 and 1966 while he served as the County Surveyor for Clark County, Nevada and the City Engineer for Las Vegas, Nevada. The field notebooks contain survey coordinates and elevation data for much of early Las Vegas and provide important information on early property boundaries, historical elevations, and lengths of streets from the 1920s to the 1960s. There are also oversized right of way maps for Clark County, Nevada.
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Scope and Contents Note
The C. D. Baker Engineering Field Notebooks are comprised of the notebooks and informational texts Charles Duncan "C. D." Baker created and used between 1909 and 1966 while he served as the County Surveyor for Clark County, Nevada and the City Engineer for Las Vegas, Nevada. The field notebooks contain survey coordinates and elevation data for much of early Las Vegas and provide important information on early property boundaries, historical elevations, and lengths of streets from the 1920s to the 1960s. There are also oversized right of way maps for Clark County, Nevada.
Access Note
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 and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain as they were received.
Biographical / Historical Note
City Engineer and politician Charles Duncan "C. D." Baker (1901-1972) was instrumental to the expansion and development of Las Vegas, Nevada before 1940. Born on February 26, 1901 in Terra Haute, Indiana, he received a bachelor's of science in civil engineering from Rose Polytechnic Institution in Indiana and then worked for the Indiana Highway Department. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to teach math and coach basketball in 1922. In 1923, Baker moved to Juneau, Alaska, where he served as a deck officer in the United States Coast Geodetic Survey for four years.
After returning to Las Vegas in 1926, he completed several engineering projects. Baker was a partner in the Boulder Dam Townsite Company until 1932 and a full-time mineral surveyor for the State of Nevada and Clark County, Nevada until 1933 and 1936, respectively. He was then named Superintendent of the Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Beginning in 1936, Baker held the position of City Engineer for Las Vegas, Nevada. He ran for mayor in 1940 and lost, but won a position in the State Legislature later that year. Baker was called for active military duty in 1941 and served as a colonel for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineering stationed in Hawaii. He married Florence Langford when he returned to Las Vegas in 1945 and the couple had two children. Baker ran for the Nevada State Sentate in 1946 and served one term in office. He was elected mayor of Las Vegas in 1951 and served two consecutive terms, retiring from politics in 1959. After his political career ended, Baker ran a real estate business until he retired in June 1966.
In addition to politics, he was on the committee to build the Las Vegas Convention Center, a member of the Nevada State Eagles and the Las Vegas Elks, and the Vice President of the Nevada Savings and Loan. He died February 17, 1972.
Source:
"Former Mayor of Las Vegas, Charles D. Baker, dies"
Preferred Citation
C. D. Baker Engineering Field Notebooks, 1909-1966. MS-00272. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1987 by Al Hurdato and the Boyle Engineering Corporation; accession number 1987-002.
Processing Note
In 2014, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Christina Molina began the creation of the finding aid. In 2015, Franklin Howard completed the revisions. In 2016, Joyce Moore edited and enhanced the content and updated the collection to ArchivesSpace. In 2019, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Sarah Jones revised the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards.