Henderson: From campsite to bustling suburb

By Melissa Arseniuk

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008 | 4:28 p.m.

It has been called many names over the years -- Midway City, Pittman and Jericho Heights, to name a few -- but what's now Nevada's second-largest city has been known as Henderson since 1942.

Situated at in the midst of three of the state's most renowned manmade attractions – the neon of Vegas, Hoover Dam and Lake Mead – the city offers both small town values and big city efficiencies.

It's hard to imagine the humble beginnings from which the sprawling urban center of nearly 270,000 emerged, but Henderson began in 1931 as a meager camp for Hoover Dam construction workers. The dam was completed in 1935, but little tent camps sprung up all over the valley in the '30s, including such "Hoovervilles" as Railroad Pass, Texas Acres and Oklahoma City.

Nevada Sen. Pat McCarran and an Ohio businessman by the name of Howard Eels played a crucial role in Henderson's formation. Together, they convinced the federal government to back Eels' company, Basic Refractories, in its plans to build a magnesium production plant during the lead-up to World War II.

"Eels had bought the plans for a magnesium refinery from a company in England … (and McCarran) was looking for a way to have some war money spent in this area," the director of the Clark County Museum, Mark Hall-Patton, explains.

As soldiers were preparing for the front lines, the military was looking for magnesium for firebombs. Since Southern Nevada's abundance of magnesite and brucite made the region a prime location for a magnesium operation, McCarran and Eels were soon able to secure the support they needed.

Nevada Sen. Berkeley Bunker would later speak out against the arrangement, calling it a blatant case of war profiteering. As a result, Sen. Harry Truman eventually called Senate Investigation Committee hearings to look into the deal. In his report, he called the plant, "one of the most flagrant attempts at war profiteering."

Construction on the Basic Magnesium Industries plant began on Sept. 14, 1941. Within three months, 2,700 laborers were dedicated to the project. The flood of laborers saw Henderson's African-American population increase significantly, as many black workers from the Deep South came to the area to join the effort.

"Before the war there were something like 130 blacks in the Valley. … With this huge influx in population, both white and black, the social strictures just fell apart," Hall-Patton says.

Most of the workers lived in tents or makeshift shelters in the beginning, but it didn't take long before more permanent communities were constructed for them using demountable housing.

Two main settlements were built: Victory Village, for white workers, and a 324-unit project, called Carver Park, for black workers.

"Carver Park was designed by renowned black architect Paul Revere Williams, who also designed La Concha strip motel," Hall-Patton notes. The acclaimed architect later became known as "Hollywood's Architect to the Stars" and designed over 3000 buildings, including the famed Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building.

Victory Village and Carver Park were located close to the plant and adjacent to each other, separated by what is now Lake Mead Boulevard.

This pronounced segregation was the first of its kind in the region, yet despite the separation of housing for blacks and whites, all children attended the same school.

Midway City was renamed Henderson in 1942, in honor of U.S. Sen. Charles Belknap Henderson. Interestingly enough, the man who the city was named after never actually visited the community.

The community's first high school, Railroad Pass High School, opened that same year. The school changed its name to Basic High School in 1945.

As workers came to the area, services soon followed: The city's first library, located on Pacific Street, opened its doors in 1943. A post office followed, on Jan. 1, 1944, and the first municipal pool opened a year later. Business was flourishing in Henderson, so much so that a chamber of commerce was organized in 1945.

After the war ended, however, the demand of magnesium dried up, along with the community's lifeblood. Basic was forced to drastically scale back production and lay most of the employees off. This bleak period saw many former Basic employees leave Henderson in search of work elsewhere.

"The idea was Henderson was not going to continue to exist," Hall-Patton says. "It was a wartime need, they were going to come in, house all of our workers, make all this magnesium, burn down all of Germany and Japan, and call it good and be done with it. … (But) an interesting thing happened: They closed down the plant, but the town didn't go away."

As workers and their families exited the region, a pronounced void was left in their wake: The school population dropped by two-thirds and half of the plant's housing was suddenly vacant.

The situation was so bleak that, in 1947, the United States War Asset Administration put the community up for sale as a "war surplus property."

"There was a big push to do something," Hall-Patton says, explaining the rationale of the time: "They've already got schools, they've got stores, they've got their own newspaper, they've got their own post office, they've got their own identity. And they've got this huge plant sitting there."

As the city was being put on the auction block, its first hospital, St. Rose de Lima, opened its doors, giving residents all the more reason to stay in Henderson and make it their home.

No one jumped at the opportunity to buy the community, however, which left the Nevada Legislature to come to the rescue a year later. Following a weekend trip to Southern Nevada, officials unanimously passed a bill approving the plant's sale to the Colorado River Commission of Nevada for $6-million. The state also assigns a private organization, Basic Management Inc., to manage the plant, local utilities, and several thousand acres of undeveloped land on its behalf.

Henderson's transition from a temporary industrial town to a more permanent community was guaranteed in 1949, when C.D. Baker introduced legislation that allowed workers to purchase their housing outright instead of renting it from the company. Baker's bill also made way for portions of the company's campus to be leased or sold to other businesses. Three years later, Basic Management purchased the plant outright from the state, effectively privatizing the remainder of the operation.

Several industrial companies opened locations in Henderson during the 1950s, including Chemstar Lime, Inc., Kerr McGee Chemical Corporation, Pioneer Chlor Alkali Co., Inc. and the Titanium Metals Corporation. With the help of these companies, Henderson was able to get back on its feet. The economy improved and things began to look up once again.

"The community started growing up," Hall-Patton says. "They decided, by 1953, that they wanted to incorporate as a city."

Two decades after people first began calling the area home, Henderson was finally incorporated as a city on April 16, 1953. Through the incorporation, Carver Park, Victory Village and Pittman were absorbed into the Henderson town site and the communities were formally united under one name.

The young city's 7,410 residents went to the polls to elect their first mayor a month after incorporation. Following the vote, Jim French was sworn into office, along with the other members of Henderson's first City Council, on May 27, 1953.

The mid to late-1950s were exciting times in Henderson, as the community came out of its one-industry shell and began to redefine itself as an emerging industrial center.

As local industry developed and diversified, technology followed: Direct-dial telephone service became available in 1954, as did the city's first radio station, KBMI-AM.

That same year, a collection of A-list stars – including Frank Sinatra, Sophie Tucker, Dorothy Lamour, Dennis Day and The Ink Spots – gave the city its first major concert.

The "Victory Show" fundraiser took place on June 15, 1954, and raised over $11,000 for the Henderson Youth Center. The center opened two years later and served the community until 1997, when it was replaced by a new $54.5-million complex, the Downtown Recreation Center.

As gambling became increasingly popular and omnipresent in nearby Las Vegas, Henderson legislators realized they would need to compete. As such, officials legalized the use of slot machines in the city's commercial district during the spring of 1956. Previous to that, gambling was banned throughout the community, aside from a few designated blocks in what was then the outskirts of town.

The city's first golf course, the Black Mountain Golf and Country Club, opened on June 14, 1959. The nine-hole course expanded five years later, to offer 18 holes, and today is a 27-hole course.

President John F. Kennedy signed the Henderson Land Bill on July 23, 1963, which effectively doubled the city's size with the addition of 15,000 acres of land. Most of the land was to the west of the city's original property lines. When Kennedy visited Southern Nevada two months later, he called Henderson a "city of destiny."

Though its future was bright, Henderson did not share the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas. While the two centers shared close proximity to one another, they remained isolated and independent, separated by a long dusty stretch of desert.

Hall-Patton describes the area between the communities as undeveloped and bleak: "You knew that you were getting close to, say, McCarran (International Airport) because you passed Wayne Newton's place," the historian says. "There was nothing else out there. There were some dude ranches and that sort of thing," but that was it.

Looking back, Hall-Patton notes, "it's hard to imagine just how small it was."

While Henderson was a relatively sleepy industrial town throughout the 60s and 70s, the city still had its controversies.

One of the biggest scandals began in 1971, when local businessman and Las Vegas Sun publisher, Hank Greenspun, convinced the city council to sell him 4,720 acres of recently-released government land for about $280 an acre. The property, which was known as "Section 25," enjoyed a prime location, ideally situated between Henderson and Las Vegas.

Greenspun convinced the city to sell him the land after he promised to develop the property. Controversy arose when Greenspun turned around and sold a large portion of the still undeveloped land for $3,000 to $5,000 an acre.

Greenspun used the remainder of the land to make good on his promise in 1973, however, as construction of his development, "Green Valley," began. The project proved to be a huge success, and the neighborhood flourished into what is now one of the most sought-after areas of the city. It also helped bridge the gap between Henderson and Las Vegas.

Other master-planned communities in Henderson include Lake Las Vegas, Silverado Ranch, MacDonald Ranch, Anthem Highlands and Seven Hills. Along with Greenspun's American Nevada Corporation, Del Webb and Sun City also contributed to these projects.

Henderson was the first city in Nevada to require developers to provide land for and help fund schools, parks and fire and police stations. This innovative legislation was passed before the city experienced its biggest boom, in 1971, and helped ensure development did not outpace local infrastructure.

In addition to the mandated provisions, developers later instilled a tradition -- based solely upon their own initiative -- of giving back to the community through turnkey parks, libraries and other facilities.

Legendary candy maker Forrest Mars opened the Ethel M Chocolates factory and store on the corner of Sunset Rd. and Mountain Vista Street in 1981. The facility, along with its premium chocolates and on-site cactus garden, have since become a popular tourist attraction.

Still, not all Henderson-based business ventures were a success: The Las Vegas Downs dog-racing track opened in 1981, but the S. Boulder Hwy. operation soon ran into financial trouble and was forced to close its doors just two years later.

Disaster rocked the community in 1988 when fire and industrial explosions rocked the Pacific Engineering Production Company of Nevada (PEPCON) plant, east of the city.

PEPCON produced ammonium perchlorate for rocket boosters and military weapons.

The tragedy is believed to have started after a cigarette was carelessly tossed into a barrel of ammonium perchlorate. The resulting fire quickly spread to a collection of 55-gallon polyethylene drums, and the first of nine explosions took place within 20 minutes.

The two largest explosions during the PEPCON disaster measured 3 and 3.5 on a Richter scale. Experts suggest the blasts were the like of 250 tons of TNT exploding: Windows were broken, power lines were downed, and doors were blown off their hinges. More than half of Henderson's buildings suffered damage and thousands of insurance claims were filed.

Two people, PEPCON comptroller Roy Westerfield and plant manager Bruce Halker, were killed in the disaster, while another 372 were injured.

The blast blew in the windshield of Henderson Fire Department's fire engine as it sped toward the scene, showering firemen with shards of glass. The fire chief's car was also destroyed and he and his passenger had to seek medical attention for their injuries.

The PEPCON fire devoured more than eight million pounds of perchlorate and the explosions left a 200-foot crater in their wake. The nearby Kidd & Co. marshmallow factory was also destroyed.

After a dramatic court battle and subsequent $71-million settlement, PEPCON changed its name to Western Electrochemical Co. and moved its operations to Cedar City, Utah. The site of the disaster, a block southwest of what is now the Valley Auto Mall, has since been redeveloped.

The 1990s saw dramatic changes for the city of Henderson, as development surged and the population experienced sustained, substantial growth.

As new developments sprung up, the city attracted people from all over the country, not just Southern Nevada. "We went from being this small industrial-based city to being this huge bedroom community," Hall-Patton recalls.

The population nearly tripled in numbers between 1980 and 1990, and the population ballooned again between 1990 and 1993, from 64,000 to an estimated 90,000 residents. The growth was so considerable that, in 1995, the U.S. Census Bureau declared Henderson the fastest-growing city in the nation.

"You had … all of these subdivisions that had grown up so quickly in the 80s and 90s and 2000s and that's where people were moving into," Hall-Patton explains. "They were moving not from downtown, but from Chicago or L.A. or New York, or Canada."

As the influx brought thousands of new people to the city, it also brought on an identity crisis of sorts. "People living in Green Valley in the '90s … wanted to be Green Valley, not Henderson," Hall-Patton says. A push to have a Green Valley post office separate from the Henderson post office took place during this time, but was unsuccessful.

"(Newcomers) came in and all they … (didn't) have a sense of the community," Hall-Patton explains. "I think there's been a concerted effort to change that."

As the population exploded, the city was hard-pressed to keep up. In effort to accommodate the burgeoning population, a second high school, Green Valley High School, was built in 1991. A third, Foothill High School, opened in 1999, while another, Coronado High School, opened two years after that. The city's fifth high school, Liberty High School, opened in 2003.

While the Arroyo Grande Sports Complex was built in 1992, the city's 147-acre Bird Viewing Reserve and hotel opened in 1998, and the city's second police station, the Green Valley Ranch Substation, opened in 1999, 1996 was one of the biggest years in Henderson's commercial history. That year, the Black Mountain Recreation and Aquatic Complex, the city's largest shopping center (the Galleria at Sunset), and the world's largest auto mall, the Valley Auto Mall, all opened within five months of each other.

The city's first high-rise, Sunset Station, opened in 1997. Three weeks later, on July 1, 1997, City Council passed preemptive legislation, the "Hillside Ordinance," to protect the city's mountains from over-development.

As development continued to speed ahead, Interstate 215 was extended through Henderson in 1997. The freeway expansion enhanced access to the city and made it easier for the thousands of tourism industry workers who commute from their bedroom community homes in Henderson to their jobs on The Strip every day.

The city's staggering growth and development saw the city bump Reno from its position as Nevada's second-most populated city in 1999. And it didn't stop there: Henderson continued to grow and drastically expand as it entered the new millennium.

The 201-room Green Valley Ranch hotel and casino opened in 2001, in what is now a large-scale mixed-use community known as The District at Green Valley Ranch. The first phase of The District opened in 2004, complete with residential homes and condos, dining, retail stores, entertainment venues, office space, and recreational greenspace. Located at the intersection of I-215 and Green Valley Parkway, the second phase opened in 2006, expanding its capacity to 572,000 square feet of rental space.

Other recent developments in the city include the opening of the city's first post-secondary institution, Nevada State College at Henderson, in 2002, and the unveiling of the massive recreational facility, the Henderson Multigenerational Center, in 2003.

Henderson grew again in 2003, by an additional 5,458 acres courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management. With this significant addition, the city reached 96 million acres and its population surpassed 220,0000.

While development has slowed in recent years, it hasn't stopped completely. The city's population is expected to reach 310,000 people by 2010.

Covering 103 square miles, the city of Henderson is a modern day metropolis compared to the shabby, 13-square-mile shantytown it once was. What was once a tent city now offers shopping malls, movie theaters, restaurants, casinos, recreational facilities, and an array of services and cultural activities.

With 40 parks, more than 11 miles of trails, 10 golf courses, and 9 casinos, Henderson truly is, as its slogan proclaims, "A Place to Call Home."