Marcelina Sandusky standing in backyard located within the original Sunrise Acres community with the water tower visible in the background: black-and-white photographs

Around the turn of the century, Ramon Sanchez emigrated from Spain to the United States, where he became a rancher in Trementina, New Mexico. Many years later, his son, Cesario, migrated to Liberal, Kansas, to work on the railroad. It was in Trementina, New Mexico, however, that his daughter Marcelina — pictured above — was born, before being raised in Liberal, Kansas, where she eventually met and married her musician husband, Gene Sandusky. In 1941, the Sanduskys moved to Las Vegas, settling in a new housing tract called Sunrise Acres. Some 45 years later, Mrs. Sandusky stands in her backyard with the original Sunrise Acres community well and water tower looming prominently in the background. Today, Mrs. Sandusky is working hard to gather the history of that still cohesive neighborhood, one of the earliest in Las Vegas.