Las Vegas Springs

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name = Las Vegas Springs
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caption = The Desert Living Center rotunda at the Springs Preserve
location = Las Vegas, Nevada
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added = December 14, 1978
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refnum = 78001719
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governing_body = The Las Vegas Springs is the site of a natural oasis, known traditionally as a cienega. For more then 15,000 years, springs that broke through the desert floor, creating grassy meadows (called "las vegas" by Spanish explorers). [cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lasvegas/peopleevents/e_earlyvegas.html |title=People & Events |accessdate=2008-08-25 |work=American Experience |publisher=PBS Online |date=2005-07-11 ] The bubbling springs were a source of water for Native Americans living here at least 5,000 years ago. [cite web |url=http://gosw.about.com/od/lasvegas/p/springspreserve.htm |title= Las Vegas Springs Preserve - History, Gardens and Community |accessdate=2008-08-25 |work= |publisher= |date= ] Know as "The Birthplace of Las Vegas" it sustained travelers of the Old Spanish Trail and Mormons who came to settle the West. The springs' source is the "Las Vegas Aquifer". [cite web |url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118930886/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 |title=A REEVALUATION OF THE GROUND WATER BUDGET FOR LAS VEGAS VALLEY, NEVADA, WITH EMPHASIS ON GROUND WATER DISCHARGE |accessdate=2008-08-25 |work= |publisher=JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association |date=2007-06-08 ]

The springs are now a part of the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.

History

American traveler John C. Fremont camped at the springs in 1844. The springs stopped flowing to the surface in 1962 [cite book |title= Las Vegas: The Fabulous First Century|last= Ainlay|first=Thomas Taj |authorlink= |coauthors=Judy Dixon Gabaldon |year=2003 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location= |isbn=0738524166 |pages=121 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zeIbm3iEXhQC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=%22las+vegas+springs%22+dry&source=web&ots=9Td9PcJ6rM&sig=MwnqQanpXEM_f8pJCBx4ui_Cigk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=44&ct=result] as the water table dropped as more water was pumped out to meet the demands of a growing population than was being replaced by rainfall and snow melt.Fact|date=April 2007

The springs and associated infrastructure have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978 [ cite web |url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/NV/Clark/state.html |title= National Register of Historic Places |accessdate= |format= |work= ] and are marked as [http://dcnr.nv.gov/markers/mark_40.htm Nevada Historical Marker 40] .

References