Abstract
The Bonnie and Al Levinson Papers on Bonnie Springs Ranch contains visual and promotional materials from the 1960s to 2014 about Bonnie Springs Ranch located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The materials depict events and shows that occurred at the ranch; its guests, employees, petting zoo animals; and document the buildings on the property as well as the surrounding areas, including Red Rock Canyon. Also in the collection are photographs from other locations in Nevada, such as Belmont, Goodsprings, and Las Vegas. The collection also includes digital photographs of Bonnie Springs Ranch from 2008 depicting trail rides as well as the snow storm that fell on the Las Vegas Valley on December 17, 2008. The collection contains a significant amount of promotional materials about Old Nevada, a recreation of an 1880s mining town, as well as press releases and magazines and newspaper articles featuring the ranch.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Bonnie and Al Levinson Papers on Bonnie Springs Ranch contains visual and promotional materials from the 1960s to 2014 about Bonnie Springs Ranch located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The materials depict events and shows that happened at the ranch; its guests, employees, and animals in the petting zoo; and document the buildings on the property as well as the surrounding areas, including Red Rock Canyon. Also in the collection are photographs from other locations in Nevada, such as Belmont, Goodsprings, and Las Vegas. Visual materials in this collection include color and black-and-white photographic prints, negatives, Polaroids, slides, transparencies, and contact prints. Most of the photographs date from the 1960s to the 1990s. The collection also includes digital photographs of Bonnie Springs Ranch from 2008, depicting trail rides as well as the snow storm that fell on the Las Vegas Valley on December 17, 2008. The collection contains a significant amount of promotional materials about Old Nevada, a recreation of an 1880s mining town, as well as press releases and magazines and newspaper articles featuring the ranch. These publications range from local newspapers like
Access Note
Collection is open for research. Arrangements must be made in advance to access digital files; please contact UNLV Special Collections and Archives for additional information.
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 are arranged loosely by format.
Biographical / Historical Note
Bonnie Springs Ranch, located to the west of Las Vegas, Nevada off of Route 159, opened as picnic ranch with a swimming pool in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Al and Bonnie Levinson added several attractions, including a recreation of an 1880s mining town known as Old Nevada, a wax museum, and a train. Actors at Old Nevada would perform stunt shows and reenact gun fights. The ranch also had a petting zoo. In January of 2019, the land that once belonged to the ranch was sold to developer Joel Laub, who planned to build luxury homes on the site. Bonnie Springs Ranch officially closed its doors on March 17, 2019.
Preferred Citation
Bonnie and Al Levinson Papers on Bonnie Springs Ranch, approximately 1960-2014. MS-00936. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Permalink
Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 2019 by April Hopper; accession number 2019-042.
Processing Note
This collection is unprocessed. In 2019, the collected was rehoused and a summary of the materials was created by Mary Anilao, Chriziel Childers, and Landon Paljusaj during accessioning. Image files were transferred off of two optical discs by Mary Anilao and Tammi Kim during accessioning. No other work has been performed on the materials.