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William Andrews Clark
1839-1925
Have you ever wondered how Clark County got its name?
About 100 years ago, a man named William
A. Clark came to Las Vegas. He was a United States Senator from Montana.
He bought a railroad and had an idea that would turn the small town of Las
Vegas into a city.
Clark's Railroad
Clark wanted to build a railroad that would connect Southern California
to Utah. Las Vegas was a good place for a train depot because it was a
halfway point between the two states. It also had water to keep the steam
locomotives moving. Building a station in Las Vegas allowed railroad workers
to change crews and service the trains between Los Angeles and Salt Lake
City.
The fort and the railroad
Clark needed water to make his project work and, in the middle of the
desert, water can be hard to find. He discovered that a woman named
Helen J. Stewart owned most of the land and water in the area. So
Clark's railroad company bought Mrs. Stewart's 1,800-acre ranch and the
rights to the water on the land for $55,000. That was all Clark needed
to make his project work.
Las Vegas becomes a city
The railroad was a success. After it opened, the railroad company held
an auction to sell land in the area to people who wanted to build homes
and businesses near the train station. The auction was held on May 15,
1905, which is the day Las Vegas officially became a town.
A few years after the auction, Las Vegas
was given its own county. The people decided to name their new county
after Clark, since his railroad helped the town of Las Vegas grow.
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