The Expansion of Las Vegas
By 1905 the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad or Salt Lake Route was complete and Las Vegas was officially a city on May 15, 1905. Salt Lake Route was a company started by William A. Clark a United States Senator that provided a means to transport his copper ore from Utah to the south. It also provided travelers a direct route west that was easier than caravans. Completion of the railroad was not without competition as Union Pacific also tried to complete a line heading west. In the end, both companies came to agreement in which Clark was allowed to operate the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt lake rails on Union Pacific lines but at a cost of fifty percent share of his rail company (1). Clark also envisioned transforming Las Vegas into a major train station. He expanded his vision by selling land and increasing his train route which lured even more people west. What was intended to be the downtown area was auctioned off by railroad company patrons, approximately 110 acres, thus bringing the city of Las Vegas to life by 1911.
With this new influx of travelers and prospectors, towns started to appear along its tracks. Clark’s executives auctioned off residential and commercial lots in an area he referred to as the Clark Las Vegas Townsite (1), which is located in today’s Main Street north of Freemont Street. In 1909, legislation was passed to have the county named after William A. Clark as Clark County. By 1911 Clark has expanded his town’s population to fifteen hundred with 450 of them employed by his railroad. The expansion started to slow 1917, due to rough economic conditions Clark was forced to stop some lines and services in Las Vegas. By 1922, Clark sold his remaining fifty percent share to Union Pacific.
Reference
1. SAN PEDRO, LOS ANGELES AND SALT LAKE RAILROAD. Retrieved from http://www.onlinenevada.org/san_pedro,_los_angeles_and_salt_lake_railroad
1. SAN PEDRO, LOS ANGELES AND SALT LAKE RAILROAD. Retrieved from http://www.onlinenevada.org/san_pedro,_los_angeles_and_salt_lake_railroad