County’s first 100 years on display

By Becky Bosshart

Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 | 5:37 p.m.

One of the most interesting artifacts in the new "Clark County 1909-2009 A Destination's Century" exhibit almost didn't make it into the Clark County Museum.

Exhibit curator Dawna Jolliff snagged the white and green El Rancho Vegas casino pool towel from her brother's bathroom, where she was mortified to learn he'd been using it for years. She believes her brother got it from his mother-in-law, who was a maid at the casino that opened in 1941 at 2500 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

"That's a historical artifact. I'm taking it!" Jolliff said, recounting the conversation with her brother, Ernie Ohlson.

Yes, a pool towel is an important artifact in a community that gained glory as a recreation destination. And many locals don't scoff at the significance of these beloved vintage brands.

Elicia Vidales, 27, wouldn't have used the artifact to dry her hair. The third generation Nevadan recognized the significance of the slightly stained towel immediately.

"That was from the first casino on the Strip," she said, awestruck, while pausing by a display case of entertainment artifacts from the early days of the neon city. The towel hung above a Dunes Las Vegas golf bag.

One hundred years of Clark County history — encompassing everything that made the area a destination — is packed into an 800-square-foot space at the 1830 S. Boulder Highway museum.

Visitors will have plenty of time to see it: The exhibit will be up all year in celebration of the county's centennial.

Clark County was officially formed on July 1, 1909 out of what had been Lincoln County. It is named for railroad baron William Andrews Clark. The museum celebrated the exhibit's opening Thursday. It was 100 years ago on Feb. 5 when Gov. Denver Dickerson signed the Clark County enabling legislation into law.

Billed as the first event celebrating the county's centennial year, about 145 residents packed the museum's small foyer to witness the opening. But visitors found it lacking one famous Las Vegas element: the scantily clad showgirls that often christen special events.

Commissioner Rory Reid said organizers decided to take a more substantive approach to this event. But that didn't mean an absence of ribbing on the Las Vegas mayor and former mob attorney, Oscar Goodman, who is often found at events flanked by bejeweled girls.

"In case you were confused, you're not in the mob museum," Reid said. "That does not exist."

Goodman was not at the Clark County Museum, and the now infamous mob museum has has come to represent pork-barrel spending on the national front.

To Jolliff, who spent two years developing the centennial exhibit, there's no fat in here. Every item — from a 1909 Las Vegas Age newspaper clipping to the captain of Britannia costume from an early Treasure Island show — were carefully selected from the museum's vast archives, which contain more than 1 million objects, she said.

Jolliff pulled together items representing recreation, mining, ranching, federal work projects and the area's fame as a marriage and divorce destination.

"People will come away from this knowing the various reasons why people came here to make this their home," Mark Hall-Patton, the museum administrator, said.

Diane Bush, a Las Vegas artist perused the poker chips, coin trays and player cards on display.

"I love the kitchy elements, like the souvenir items," she said.

The exhibit is good, said Steve Titus, but not quite as fabulous as it could be. Titus has been a Las Vegas union stage hand for the last 35 years.

"I would like a better representation of Las Vegas show business," he said.

Much of what's in history hasn't yet faded completely from view, such as a perfectly preserved Golden Gate Hotel & Casino (One Fremont Street) paper cup from the 1960s.

"It's still the place to get your 99 cent shrimp cocktails," Jolliff said.

Museum admission is $1.50 for adults and $1 for children. The centennial traveling exhibit will open at the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, on July 3 and then will travel through out the county.

For information on centennial events visit www.accessclarkcounty.com/100 or call 455-7955.

Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or [email protected].