Crystal Van Dee, Curator of Manuscripts for the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, has written a new book as part of the “Images of America” series by Arcadia Publishing. Working almost entirely in the photo archives of the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, Van Dee has produced a visual history of Clark County that includes not only the rise of Las Vegas from a small division point on the railroad to a world-renowned resort, but celebrates the “unique, diverse, and little-known aspects of the county’s history.”
This year, 2009, marks the centennial of the creation of Clark County when, as Van Dee writes in her introduction, “political and economic pressure from prominent southern Nevadans” in 1909 persuaded the state legislature to cut Lincoln County in half. Southern Nevada at the time was booming: the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad had...

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Northwestern Nevada has a major new attraction with the long-awaited opening of the historic Virginia & Truckee Railroad, rebuilt after 71 years to carry passengers between the famous mining town Virginia City and Carson City, the state capital, 30 miles south of Reno.

Rides began Aug. 15 and will run Saturdays through Oct. 31, offering an opportunity to step back in time and experience rail travel as it was a century ago, aboard vintage cars pulled by a steam engine.

The newly rebuilt railroad, known as the V&T, carries passengers one way or round trip, chugging across 12.9 miles of mountainous high desert landscape. Watch for the legendary wild horses that roam the mountains and catch a glimpse of 19th century cemeteries and abandoned stamp mills that once crushed gold and silver ore.

Round trip passengers depart from the Carson City depot at 10...

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A new boutique hotel, HOTEL32, opens Aug. 10 on the top floor of the Monte Carlo hotel-casino in Las Vegas. The hotel is a unique addition to properties on the famous Las Vegas Strip, offering travelers a celebrity VIP experience from the moment they land at the airport and are whisked away in a limo.

Visitors staying at HOTEL32 will be personally escorted to their room via a private express elevator, bypassing registration desks and heading straight to the luxury of the exclusive hotel. Each room, from studios to two-bedroom penthouses, offers unique “extras” such as a Nintendo Wii game system, a pre-stocked refrigerator based on each guest’s preferences and hydrotherapy soaking tubs in the spa-like bathrooms. For travelers who want to stay connected but travel light, laptop computers will be available upon request, and a tech-savvy workstation will feature complimentary high-speed wireless Internet access, dual phone lines, fax...

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A new shopping district, which already features mega sporting goods retailer Scheels, has announced the coming of 26 more stores to the 148-acre complex called Legends at Sparks Marina on Interstate 80, just east of Reno.

A ribbon-cutting is scheduled June 18 that will kick off a round of celebrations, concerts and other events into August. Legends’ long-range plans call for a casino resort and theaters.

Nationally known retailers such as Kenneth Cole, Sketchers USA Outlet, Fuddruckers, Osh Kosh B’Gosh and Guess Factory Store, among others, will join Best Buy, Target, Jazz and A Louisiana Kitchen already at the site.

The 295,000 square-foot Scheels, billed as the world’s largest all-sports store, features a wide range of sporting goods for golf, hunting, fishing, biking, skiing, water sports, running gear, shoes and fashion sportswear in an entertaining atmosphere that includes a Ferris wheel, aquariums, a fudge shop, deli....

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The L.A. Times published an article today about some of the interesting real stories that come out of the famed Area 51. Due to some declassification of documents and projects, some of the old-timers who ran operations at Area 51 are now able to talk a bit about what they did there.

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