The Tomiyasu Family Photograph Collection (approximately 1908 to 1991) consists of black-and-white photographic prints of the Tomiyasu family and their farming business in southern Nevada.
The Tomiyasu Family Photograph Collection (approximately 1908 to 1991) consists of black-and-white photographic prints of the Tomiyasu family and their farming business in southern Nevada. The photographs depict the family and their farm, located in what is today Sunset Park. The collection contains photographs of the machinery, fields, and livestock on the farm. Lastly, the collection contains photographs of Bill Y. Tomiyasu Elementary School; George Goto, the artist who created the Japanese garden at Tomiyasu elementary; and photographs of the Tomiyasu family at a Salvation Army event.
Collection is open for research.
This material is made available to facilitate private study, scholarship, or research. The donor, Setsuko Tomiyasu, transferred all right, title and interest they had in the Tomiyasu Family Photograph Collection (PH-00294) to UNLV. However, some material may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or other interests not owned by UNLV. Users are responsible for determining whether permissions are necessary from rights owners for any intended use and for obtaining all required permissions. Acknowledgement of the UNLV University Libraries is requested. For more information, please see the UNLV Special Collections policies on reproductions and use or contact us at special.collections@unlv.edu.
Materials are arranged by topic.
The Tomiyasu farming and ranching business began in 1914 after Yonema "Bill" Tomiyasu bought forty acres of land in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tomiyasu migrated from Japan to California in 1898 and promptly began farming. He relocated to Las Vegas because of a California law that restricted immigrants from owning land for agricultural purposes. Tomiyasu originally grew alfalfa due to how well it grows in dry climates. Within a few years, Tomiyasu became proficient in farming the dry soil, becoming the lead supplier of melons, peppers, brussel sprouts, lettuce, cabbage, onions, carrots, radishes, and beets for Las Vegas stores and restaurants.
Tomiyasu married his wife, Toyono, in the late 1910s and they had two boys, Nanyu and Kiyo, and two girls, Uwamie and Maymie, "Mimi." Throughout the 1920s the Tomiyasu business expanded, and became the largest produce supplier for Hoover Dam workers. During those years, the Six Companies Inc. operated a store near the Hoover Dam project in Boulder City, Nevada, which the Tomiyasu farm regularly supplied with fruits and vegetables. Tomiyasu eventually purchased an additional 120 acres for farming and ranching in the 1930s. In addition to farming, the Tomiyasu family raised chickens and turkeys. By 1940, Tomiyasu supplied produce not only to the residents of Las Vegas and Boulder City, but also to Beatty, Jean, Goodsprings, and Sloan, Nevada.
Although Tomiyasu taught his children the farming business, they all attended college in pursuit of different careers. While Tomiyasu remained in horticulture the rest of his life, but following World War II, he primarily grew landscaping plants. Tomiyasu later lost his land due to a misunderstanding in a loan contract. Despite the loss of land, Tomiyasu continued to manage a plant nursery until his death in 1969. The city of Las Vegas commemorated Tomiyasu in the late 1980s by naming an elementary school and a street after him.
Sources:
Clark County Parks & Recreation, “Yonema ‘Bill’ Tomiyasu: Pioneering Horticulturist and Landscaper,” Accessed November 27, 2019. https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/parks/Documents/sunset-construction/tomiyasu-ranch.pdf
Green, Michael with Susan A. Myers. Nevada: A Journey of Discovery, Gibbs Smith, (Salt Lake City: 2005), 175.
Tomiyasu Family Photograph Collection, approximately 1908-1991. PH-00294. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Materials were donated by Setsuko Tomiyasu; accession number 2025-020.
In 2019, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, James Howard processed the materials, wrote the finding aid, and entered the data into ArchivesSpace.