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Early Las VegasEarly Las Vegas was little more than a way station
for travelers. Photo courtesy of the UNLV Lied
Library Special Collections Department.

The railroad needed way stations with access to water for their steam locomotives, and the watering hole known to travelers as Las Vegas was a good location between Utah and California.

Senator William Clark from Montana created the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad (later known as Union Pacific). He purchased 1,864 acres of land and water rights from the Las Vegas Springs from Helen J. Stewart in 1902.

The railroad created the Las Vegas Land and Water Company to operate the first water distribution system in the valley. In May 1905, the company auctioned off land, creating the town site of Las Vegas. The City of Las Vegas was officially incorporated in March 1911.

To supply the railroad and the new town with water, the company laid redwood pipes and constructed protective houses over the springs to keep people, cattle and other polluting factors out of the water supply.


Beginning in 1907, residents began drilling privately-owned wells, tapping into the underground aquifer. Many times, well owners did not cap the wells, allowing precious water to gush out at an enormous rate. This huge waste of water helped deplete the groundwater table so quickly that, within 40 years, the Nevada State Water Engineer declared Las Vegas overdrawn.

People didn't understand where the water actually came from, or why it came out of the ground with such force. They thought the water supply was endless.

As the town grew, the Las Vegas Springs could not meet peak demands. The Las Vegas Land and Water Company complained about water waste, especially during summer months, when townspeople fled to cooler mountain retreats, but left water running on their lawns and shrubs. The company proposed metering water, but the Nevada State Legislature opposed such measures.

The company asked people to conserve water and pushed the Pacific Fruit Express, which operated the ice plant, to install cooling towers to recycle water. In 1923, with the new equipment installed, ice plant water use dropped from 800 to 50 gallons of water per minute.

Also in 1923, the Las Vegas Land and Water Company drilled Well No. 1 near the Las Vegas Springs to help meet the new city's growing water needs.