Ina Porter recalls the story of choosing to move to the John S. Park Neighborhood in the 1940s. She and her husband Burdell were accustom to paying cash for everything and needed to establish credit with Sears to purchase their $5000 home, which was not considered inexpensive. They were among the earlier homeowners and soon the neighborhood grew to include a Mormon Church that would become so integral to the Porter family's life and to the John S. Park community. Ina was born 1917 in the small southern Utah town of Kanab. She describes her youth and speaks of the Great Depression. Ina graduated from high school in 1935, married in 1936 and moved to Las Vegas, where there were jobs for her husband. Finding work after his graduation from college was not easy, but because he had been a bus driver he was able to secure a position driving a bus for the Union Pacific Railroad and later Greyhound Bus Line. Years later Ina, Burdell and their family were part of the fiber of the Joh
Oral history interview with Jeanettee L. Del Rosario conducted by Alessandra Del Rosario on December 6, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Jeanettee Del Rosario talks about her family life with nine siblings and her upbringing in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan province, Philippines. She shares her educational background in hotel and restaurant management and, after immigrating to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2006, the different hotel positions she has held in the city. Jeanettee Del Rosario discusses the process of immigration, language barriers, and missing her family in the Philippines. She also talks about Filipino traditions of respect, barangay fiestas, cultural foods, and religion.
From the Clark County Economic Opportunity Board Records -- Series I. Administrative. This folder contains financial memos and reports of the Clark County Economic Opportunity Board from 1964 through 1965.
From the Syphus-Bunker Papers (MS-00169). The folder contains an original handwritten letter, an envelope, a typed transcription of the same letter, and a copy of original letter attached.
Anna Peltier, owner and founder of ARIA Landscape Architecture in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a transplanted farm girl and a musician. She was born in 1978 on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in Escanaba, Michigan, where she and two brothers were the second generation to grow up on their parents’ (and formerly their grandparents’) farm. She studied music performance at Michigan State University but after discovering her love of landscape architecture early in her college career, she changed majors and earned her degree in landscape architecture. Moving to Las Vegas in 2007, she first worked for JW Zunino Landscape Architects. While with Zunino she did design work for Lorenzi Park and designed the award-winning Cactus Avenue Interchange. As ARIA’s principal designer, Anna designed Discovery Park in Pahrump, Nevada, and the USA Parkway between Lake Tahoe, California, and Reno, Nevada. In 2013, when Anna opened ARIA, she carefully chose the name of her business. First, for practical reasons she want
Minnesotan Don Laughlin landed far from the land of (more than) 10,000 lakes. His office 90 miles south of Las Vegas in the eponymous town of Laughlin commands an unimpeded view of a very different landscape from that of his youth. Here, where the Colorado River flows south through one of its narrowest channels, Laughlin arrived in about 1966 and purchased what would become the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino. The endeavor was so successful that the then-settlement of 10 to 15 people at that tiny spot on the river grew to be an unincorporated town housing more than 7,000 people in 2010. Today, Laughlin the man continues to promote and support Laughlin the town via flood control projects and infrastructure development. In this interview, Laughlin sits amid the antique slot machines in his office and enjoys the view as he recalls his childhood on the family farm in southern Minnesota, and talks about leaving the farm in the late 1940s for nearby Owatonna to do watchmaking and watch repairing while simultaneously running a slot machine and pinball parlor. After visiting Las Vegas on vacation, he arrived permanently in 1952 and bartended at the Thunderbird Hotel until he bought his own bar and restaurant in Downtown Las Vegas, which he named Laughlin’s Made Right Café. After selling the café, he bought the 101 Club in North Las Vegas. He began searching for a casino for a casino to buy, seeking only those located on the border of a state that did not allow gambling. When he found the small hotel/casino on the Colorado River he purchased it. He talks of building an airstrip across the street and making daily trips to Las Vegas to buy groceries, beer, and toilet paper-essentially, everything one would need to run a hotel, restaurant, and casino-sometimes making three trips in one day. He continues to own and manage his hotel/casino at the age of 85, and he is in his office every day, all day, seven days a week. He gave up flying last year because he claims he’s too old to pilot his own aircraft. So is especially advantageous that the town that bears his name can now supply almost everything that he and the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino need.
Oral history with Chris Davis, Debbie Davis, and Mynda Smith conducted by Claytee D. White and Barbara Tabach on May 24, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Debbie and Chris Davis and Mynda Smith discuss the murder of their daughter and sister (respectively), Neysa Davis Tonks, at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival on October 1, 2017. They discuss plans to form Fifty-Eight Loved and Never Forgotten, a foundation to help educate the children of the 58 families affected that night. Neysa, a single mother, left behind three sons, 24, 18, and 15 years of age. The family members recall how they were first alerted to Neysa's death, and having to locate and identify her body at the coroner's office twenty-four hours later. Chris, David, and Mynda reflect on Neysa's life, her work, and legacy. Debbie, Chris, and Mynda believe that "darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. Neysa's light will shine forever."
Information about the Aruba Hotel (Thunderbird) sign that sits at 1215 S Las Vegas Blvd. Site name: Thunderbird Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas, Nev.) Site address: 1215 S Las Vegas Blvd Sign owner: 1215 Las Vegas Blvd LLC; C.F. Saticoy, LP Sign details: The building was constructed in 1964 (Assessor). A vintage postcard from 1967 shows the Lotus Inn Motel and a Sambo's restaurant (VintageVegas.com, 2017). The hotel was renamed the Monte Carlo Inn in 1979, but reverted in the 1980's to the Lotus Inn (VintageVegas, 2017). In 1985, it became the Tally Ho (VintageVegas). Casino owner Bob Stupak renamed it the Thunderbird in 1986 or 1987 (VintageVegas). Stupak proposed building 15-story, $400 million resort hotel called the Titanic on the site, but vocal opposition from residents of the nearby John S. Park neighborhood and a trademark controversy derailed the project (Knightly, 2014). The property was renamed the Aruba Hotel in the early 2000's and became the Thunderbird in 2016 (O'Brien, 2016; VintageVegas). As of April 2017, a 15-story residential building was planned for the site (Carter, 2017). Sign condition: Condition is 5, excellent. The lower portion of the sign is wrapped in plastic. The exposed upper portion of the sign shows the cabinet, paint and neon all in new condition. All of the neon tubes are intact and functioning. Sign form: Blade Sign-specific description: The lower portion of the rectangular metal cabinet is wrapped in black plastic. "THUNDERBIRD" is spelled out in white blocks and red serif letters which run vertically down both sides of the plastic wrap. The upper portion of the cabinet is exposed. The cabinet is topped by a bird shape facing the street. The bird and visible part of the rectangular cabinet are painted forest green. Both sides of the bird are covered in white, blue, pink, yellow and green skeleton neon. Underneath the bird , a horizontal yellow skeleton neon tube is visible. Sign - type of display: Neon Sign - media: Steel Sign environment: Las Vegas Blvd north of the Strip. Property is surrounded by other motels and wedding chapels. Sign - date of installation: c. 2007 Sign - thematic influences: Tropical, Caribbean and Old Vegas. The parrot on top of the sign closely resembles the symbol of the former Thunderbird hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. The property has used the Thunderbird name intermittently since the 1980's, even when it was the Aruba hotel and the word "THUNDERBIRD" appeared over an "Aruba" sign. (Vegas24Seven, 2012) Survey - research locations: Assessor's website Survey - research notes: Carter, J. (2017 April 27). Fights are brewing over a proposed 15-story building downtown. Las Vegas Weekly. Retrieved from https://lasvegasweekly.com/intersection/2017/apr/27/fights-are- brewing-over- proposed-building- downtown/ Knightly, A. M. (2014 August 31). A history of landmarks never built. Las Vegas Review Journal. Retrieved from https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/a-history- of-landmarks- never-built/ O'Brien, J. (2016 January 21). Thunderbird Hotel reopening with former Arts Factory owner at helm. Retrieved from http://vegasseven.com/2016/01/21/thunderbird-hotel- reopens/ http://www.vegas24seven.com/substance-cd- release-sinicle- the-great- circuiting-mechanical- death-a- sinners-confession- at-the- aruba-hotel- saturday-june- 30th/ Vegas24Seven.com. (2012). Substance CD Release, Sinicle, The Great Circuiting, Mechanical Death, A Sinners Confession at The Aruba Hotel Saturday June 30th . Retrieved from Vintage Vegas. (2017 February 16). Archive: Lotus Inn Motel, c. 1967. Retrieved from http://vintagelasvegas.com/post/157345077754/lotus-inn- las-vegas Zeitzer, I. (2007 June 29). On The One, The Aruba Hotel " Las Vegas, NV- 6/22. Retrieved from http://www.jambands.com/reviews/shows/2007/06/29/on-the- one-the- aruba-hotel- las-vegas- nv-6-22#ixzz4rBUwxlkh Surveyor: Mitchell Cohen Survey - date completed: 2017-08-30 Sign keywords: Blade; Neon; Steel