Byron Underhill's father owned the first Coca-Cola bottling plant, the first beer distributorship, and the first bowling alley in Las Vegas. Byron moved here from Needles, Calif., with his family in 1927. Byron later took over the bottling plant, served in the Army as an aircraft mechanic and a glider pilot during World War II, was a private pilot who worked with Search and Rescue, played in various bands, and suggested to the Lions club that they found a burn unit at University Medical Center that is still the only one in the state
Whenever Paul Huffey drives through John S. Park Neighborhood he visualizes his youth and the times he spent with his childhood friend Michael Mack, who joined in this interview. Together they reminisced about their teen years in the 1950s and living in John S. Park Neighborhood. Paul's first home was Normandie Court, the first authentic motel in Las Vegas. In 1947, Paul's father purchased a lot on Paseo Park and built a home for his wife and only child. He describes life in that home as idyllic: no war or unemployment issues, a time when the Strip was "meaningless" unless you had a parent working there. An era when mothers, at least in his neighborhood, were stay-at-home moms and children freely roamed on their bicycles. Of their teen years, Paul and Michael recall their hi-jinks, discovering beer, and admiring pretty girls. In 1956, he graduated from Las Vegas High School, enlisted in the U. S. Army Reserve and enrolled in University of Nevada Reno. He taught history at Basic High School in Henderson for nine years.
On February 22, 1975, Barry Merrell interviewed former railroad worker Guy Hamblin (born 1896 in Clover Valley, Nevada) in his home at 4306 Kay Place, Las Vegas, Nevada about the history of Southern Nevada. Specifically, the two discuss Hamblin moving from different towns in Nevada before settling down in Southern Nevada, viewing the above-ground atomic bomb tests, early Fremont Street, and his work on the railroad. In addition, Hamblin also discusses the demographic and economic changes that he has seen in Las Vegas.
A black and white image of a man with a drink sitting on a horse at a Union Pacific Old Timer's Club No. 23 gathering at the Fremont Hotel during Helldorado Days. This photo was taken from a time capsule left in the cornerstone of the Union Pacific Railroad Station in Las Vegas. The capsule was placed there in 1940 and retrieved when the building was demolished around 1970.
David Bruce Dill was a physiologist in the study of exercise, sports medicine and applied sciences. His research focused on the effects of temperature exposure, high-altitudes, diet, age and fatigue on the human body. Dill received his bachelor's degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles, California and both his master's and doctoral degrees from Stanford University in Stanford, California. He began his physiology career at Harvard’s Fatigue Laboratory in its inaugural year, 1927.
Richard “Dick” J. Ronzone (1917-1989) was active in the local politics and civic affairs of Las Vegas, Nevada, serving as a Clark County Commissioner, a Nevada State Assemblyman, and a member of the University Board of Regents. He inherited and managed his family's retail store which dated back to the early 1900s. Ronzone also helped develop the Municipal Golf Course and was active in the Elks Lodge, Rotary Club, Veterans Of Foreign Wars, Reserve Officers Association, and the Boulder Dam Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
From the Hazel Baker Denton Photograph Collection (PH-00312). Inscription on the back reads, "Easter- Panaca Summit- Frank, Millie, Grandma Defriez, Dad, sometime in the 30s."