Kyle Ranch

When Conrad Kiel and his sons opened the trading post at the ranch, it gave the mining camps to the south and east a much-needed source of supplies and helped initiate Las Vegas Valley as a center of commerce for southern Nevada. Water from the springs on the ranch made it possible to grow hay for beef cattle and dairy cows, raise horses and grow limited amounts of wheat for their own use. They planted vineyards and produced wine for sale to the miners throughout the area. The adobe hut they constructed and used as a trading post remains as a dwindling example of adobe construction, one of only three in the Las Vegas Valley dated to this era.

Senator William Clark bought the ranch in 1903. He wanted the water for his Salt Lake Railroad. As plans for rail connections to the rich mining areas in Tonopah and Rhyolite progressed, Las Vegas attained greater significance as a rail hub. Soon the ranch was producing fresh fruit for communities along the rail routes, as well as for local residents. There were orchards of pears and apricots, melon fields, and vineyards of several grape varieties imported from Europe. To facilitate irrigation, Clark had the spring dammed and constructed a small reservoir. Extending from the reservoir was a rather sophisticated network of concrete channels carrying water for the orchard and vineyards. Some of the pear trees and portions of a concrete channel remain today.

About 1910, John S. Park constructed for Senator Clark the large ranch house (White House) that is the principal remaining structure on the ranch. The house was a marked departure from the existing structures in the valley. While towns such as Goldfield, Tonopah, and Rhyolite were expounding their riches with up-to-date hotels and banks, Las Vegas had remained primarily a tent community with only a scattering of false-front wood structures. This house, featuring central heating from a furnace in the cellar, interior plumbing, and spacious rooms, helped bring a sense of permanency to the community.

With the burgeoning interest in nostalgia spurred on by the country's bicentennial celebration, the ranch has become a point of interest for educational groups. The Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, recently exhumed the remains of three persons from the burial plot found on the ranch and has them under study. The White House will be restored as a museum, both for itself and to contain artifacts of the area. It will serve the educational programs of the local schools and historical society.