This post could be subtitled Leaving Las Vegas. We spent a month there and I was amazed at the number of activities we found that didn't involve the usual things people go to Vegas for. The Clark County Museum was the last of our adventures.
I noted in my post on the Neon Museum that there are exceptions to Vegas' penchant for obliterating history. The Neon Museum itself is one example. The Mormon Fort is another. The Clark County Museum is a third. Like the famous neon signs, instead of saving the historical artifacts in situ the exhibits in the Clark County Museum have been removed to a central place for historical preservation. And when I say "artifacts" in this instance, I mean really large ones. Mostly buildings.
One such example is the Candelight Wedding Chapel. When you hear about couples running away to Vegas to get married, chapels like this one are often what comes to mind. This is one of the more famous examples, notable for the number of celebrities who got hitched there – Michael Caine; Clayton Moore (of Lone Ranger fame); Bette Midler; Whoopi Goldberg; Ray Liotta.
The chapel sits at the top of a reconstruction aptly called Heritage Street. My favorite lot on this street is entitled Mobile America. On this sat a 1930s era motor court cabin, relocated from Las Vegas; a 1946 Plymouth; and (my personal favorite) a 1948 Spartanette travel trailer, formerly of the Golden Rule Trailer Court in Pittman (Henderson) and built by the Spartan Aircraft Corporation. Airstream wasn't the only aluminum brand with aircraft heritage!
The Boulder City Depot, below Heritage Street, serves as a gateway to the Mojave Desert Nature Trail where you can find stationary engines, ranch and farm equipment, a ghost town, and a Paiute village.
Inside the depot was an interesting display of the numerous railroad gauges used throughout the state. The larger the gauge, the larger the payload the train could handle. Narrow gauges were cheaper to build so were suitable for short lines serving very specific uses.
Two more railroad themed images. The back of the depot ...
... and the Baldwin steam engine on the way to Heritage Street. You can see the steeple of the Candlelight Chapel in the background.
The museum also has an indoor space which contains a permanent exhibit as well as a room for temporary exhibits. The permanent exhibit teaches you a little natural history and a little about the people and industry of the basin. The rotating exhibit we saw had a theme of obsolescence. Items included irons which had to be heated on a stove, manual farming and gardening instruments, typewriters, land-line telephones, and early household appliances. I was a bit startled by the number that I have used myself.
Here is a link to a map of the grounds. This and the museum's website will give you an excellent idea of the vast and varied array of history preserved here.
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