Contact:
Lori Nelson, R&R Partners, (702) 318-4209/349-0625 (cell)
Erika Yowell, LVCVA, (702) 892-7664

April 21, 2005

Las Vegas Centennial Committee to honor pioneer families with special Founders Luncheon

Editors Note: Former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan and Tim Cashman, both Centennial Committee members and longtime Las Vegas residents, will be available for media interviews to kick off the call for pioneer families and share their early memories of Las Vegas on Friday, April 22.

Sen. Bryan will be available from 9:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. at his office, Lionel Sawyer & Collins, 1700 Bank of America Plaza at 300 S. Fourth Street. Please call 383.8911 to coordinate an interview. Tim Cashman will be available from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at his office, 2300 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 1110. Please call 595.2005 to coordinate an interview.

Las Vegas, Nev. - The Centennial is seeking the descendants of families who settled in the Las Vegas Valley before 1930 to meet, greet and share their memories of early Las Vegas during an appreciation luncheon on May 10 at Lawry's The Prime Rib, 4043 Howard Hughes Parkway, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Chairman of the Centennial Committee, and other members of the committee will attend.

"These families have witnessed the history of Las Vegas unfold," said Mayor Oscar Goodman, chairman of the Centennial Committee. "It's an honor to reunite the founding families of early Las Vegas and show our appreciation."

The luncheon will honor the first townspeople who settled in the Las Vegas Valley prior to the construction of Hoover Dam and ultimately constructed the infrastructure of what would become the most dynamic city in the world. The luncheon will include a story telling session and attendees are encouraged to bring family artifacts. Blood relatives of the Valley's first settlers should call Stacy Allsbrook, executive director of the Centennial Celebration at 702.229.2005 for more information.

"The Centennial is all about paying tribute to our history and remembering our past," Allsbrook said. "This is our way of saying thank you to these pioneer families who were so integral in planting those roots and making our city what it is today."

The Las Vegas Centennial celebrates the May 15, 1905 land auction in which the first townspeople bought parcels of land in the area bounded by Stewart and Garces avenues and Main and 5th streets.

In 1890, railroad developers determined that the Las Vegas Valley would be a prime location for a railroad stop and town. Work on the first Union Pacific railroad line into Las Vegas, which linked Los Angeles with Salt Lake City, began the summer of 1904. The railroad depot was located where the Union Plaza Hotel now stands.

By early 1905, several cottages, general stores and saloons had already sprung up around the railroad tracks. The railroad company followed suit by sending out surveyors to begin laying out an area that would be known as Clark's Las Vegas Townsite. The company then planned an auction in which townspeople could buy parcels of land.

With extensive advertising by the railroad, more than 1,000 men attended and a single passenger car served as the train station for the main event. Before the end of the first day's auction, entire buildings from outlying areas were on the move, literally being dragged to the newly purchased lots. Some establishments were open for business before the end of that day. In two days, the 110 acres were sold for $265,000. Several of the old railroad cottages used to house workers can still be seen in the area, which is now the heart of downtown Las Vegas.

For more information on the Centennial celebration, visit www.lasvegas2005.org or call the Centennial Office at 702.229.2005.

###