From the Nye County, Nevada Photograph Collection (PH-00221) -- Series IV. Pahrump, Nevada -- Subseries IV.A. Hughes Family. Hughes believes the motel was constructed around 1920 by the Pahrump Valley Company, under the ownership of Isodore Dockweiler, to house Dockweiler and his associates when they visited the ranch. It featured a screened porch, one bathroom, running water, a flush toilet, a kitchen, and four bedrooms. The "motel" burned down in the early 1940s.

Howard Hughes (left, in dark coat) noted designer, builder, and industrialist entering the hull of the Hughes Flying Boat, the largest airplane in the world, as it was nearing completion on Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor. With him is Joe Petralli, assistant director of service and flight.

Date stamped on back of photo: April 3, 1947. Transcribed from attached press release: "HUGHES FLIES DUPLICATE OF CRASH PLANE CULVER CITY, Calif., April 5 -- Howard Hughes, famed flier-industrialist, today test-piloted the plane pictured here, a duplicate of the XF-11 photo-reconnaissance ship which he nearly lost his life in an accident last July 7. He designed and built the plane for the Army Air forces in conjunction with the Air Materiel Command engineers. He has recovered from the injuries sustained last year when the freak propeller trouble dashed the original XF-11 to earth. As usual, he today took personal responsibility for the first test flight of the new plane." The actual flying date is April 4, 1947.