Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park

The Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park marks the origins of the state of Nevada. This is the site where Mormon settlers, driven west partly by religious persecution, set up camp between the more established settlements like Salt Lake City and the Pacific coast. Since Mormon missions were established in both places, the Las Vegas Mormon Fort (it was not old then) served as a place to establish Mormonism between these two places, and as a resting point for westward travelers and a base for converting the "heathen" Native American tribes that roamed the Plains region. The first of the Mormon settlers arrived just a few weeks before independence Day in 1885.

Birthplace of Las Vegas

What remains of the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort is now a Nevada state historic park located in the heart of the modern gambling mecca of Las Vegas. When the settlers came in 1885, they quickly built a solid fort of adobe and stone to enclose their living quarters and keep them safe. Only a portion of the fort still stands today. These remarkable settlers established the first post office of the territory and remarkably for the time, treated the Native Americans fairly, even including them when they opened their first school.

Eventually it was discovered that the soil around the fort could not sustain people for long, and the fort was abandoned. Now this important piece of Nevada state history is forever preserved for visitor's enjoyment at the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park.