Pencil sketch of the proposed Googie-styled Riviera Villa in Las Vegas.
Address: Las Vegas; Clark County; Nevada

Architecture and Design Style: Googie

Artist's conception of a proposed shopping center in Las Vegas. Instances of the name of the shopping center have been erased in the drawing. 'Bond Road & Maryland Parkway, Clark County, Nev.' (Bond Road was the former name of Tropicana Avenue.) Rendered by J. M. Larsen.
Address: Las Vegas; Clark County; Nevada

Architecture and Design Style: Googie

Conceptual rendering of Fun-Land Amusement Park in Las Vegas for Sam Pearlstein. Rendered by B. W. Powers.
Address: Las Vegas; Clark County; Nevada

Architecture and Design Style: Googie

Drawing of an entrance to a recreation center for an unnamed complex.

Architecture and Design Style: Googie

Peter Gratton was born in 1944 in Staten Island, New York, where his father was in the Coast Guard. However, he spent his childhood in Minnesota. From 1965 to 1969, Peter was a member of the US Marine Corps, serving a tour in Vietnam. As his military duty was ending, he learned that his parents were relocating to Vegas, bringing with them all of Peter's belongings. So Peter caught up with them in Vegas where he transitioned to civilian life in a new city by "bumming around for a couple of months." He decided to stay and took a keno job at Golden Gate Casino. In 1981, he graduated from UNLV and was accredit to teach history and earth science. This proved to be a good background for an opening at the UNLV library and he helped organize the map collection. With that, his UNLV library career was successfully launched. At the time of this interview, Peter was Administrative Assistant III Lied Library Building Department. In the following pages Peter tells of his experiences that lead up to becoming a Las Vegas resident and longtime member of the UNLV library staff.