The collection consists of letters, greeting cards, survey maps, newspaper clippings, legal papers, photographs, collected recipes, land sales and expense journals, and survey reference books. The material was created or collected by pioneering Nevada surveyor, engineer, and real estate entrepreneur J. T. (John Thomas) McWilliams and his wife, Iona, between 1900 and 1968.
Archival Collection
On February 27, 1979, collector Greg Abbott interviewed Hildred Meidell (b. March 17, 1900 in Webb City, Missouri) about her time living in Las Vegas, Nevada. Meidell covers a range of topics, from her and her husband’s time as tourists in the city and their subsequent retirement to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, California. Meidell describes the Las Vegas Strip, the interstate and highway conditions between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, as well as their numerous visits to Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam). Moreover, she speaks about the changing layout of the city, the increase in shopping centers and department stores, and the clothing stores inside of hotels. Lastly, Meidell talks about the prominence of churches in local communities, the atomic testing program and the structural damages these tests caused in her neighborhood, and the influence of the railroad and passenger train on the town.
Text
The W. I. Booth and A. Allen Photograph Album of Goldfield, Nevada (approx. 1900-1910) contains forty-five black-and-white photographs taken by photographers W. I. Booth and A. Allen. The images depict the Goldfield, Nevada townsite; mines, miners, camps, and equipment; horses pulling freight and carriages across the desert; and topographical features of Goldfield and outlying areas. The photographs document the mining boom in the Goldfield area during the early 20th century.
Archival Collection
