Texas Acres – A tent city

 

 Is it a subdivision in Henderson? Is it a land formation that looks like Texas?  Would you believe Texas Acres was a tent city encampment near Railroad Pass where dam workers lived during the construction of the Hoover Dam.  It is believed its name came from the campers who were from Texas.  The River Mountains loop Trail passes through the remains of the old settlement, as do several power lines. Very soon we’ll have a wayside/sign installed nearby to tell about the settlement. 

 Here is some history I have dug up….

Most Nevadans think of Railroad Pass as that last stretch of the undeveloped land between Henderson and Boulder City.  However, during the Depression era (1930s) and into the early 1940s, this narrow corridor was home to hundreds of job seekers and small-time entrepreneurs who came here to make a living during one of the most troubling eras in our nation’s history. Lured by the prospect of employment on the massive Boulder [Hoover] Dam project, unemployed workers from around the country rolled into southern Nevada with little more than the shirts on their backs. While the luckier ones were placed on the Six Companies payroll, others were placed on long waiting lists. The new residents were immediately confronted with the shortage of housing and had no choice but to live in their cars, makeshift cabins, and tent shacks. 

 

The “unofficial” Railroad Pass community was one of several associated squatters’ camps on the outskirts of the Federal Reservation boundary (Boulder City). The community consisted of at least four discreet camps including Texas Acres, Oklahoma City, Dee’s Camp, and Showalter’s Camp.  The new residents as well as off-duty dam workers created an instant market for a variety of services.  It was not long before road-side businesses including a casino, road houses with restaurants and bars, gas stations, stores, and a confectionary, dotted the landscape.  At the ends of their shifts, dam workers often headed to Railroad Pass in search of illegal moonshine, gambling, and other illicit forms of entertainment.  Former residents recall the loud music, frolicking, and fighting that lasted into the wee hours of the night.  Families continued to go about their business and attempted to distance themselves from the bawdy establishments.  Following several fund-raising activities and with financial help from the Clark County Commission, residents built the Railroad Pass School in 1931 so that their children could be schooled locally.

 

Sixty or more years after the squatters left Railroad pass, the remnants of the former camps have become an historic archaeological site.

 

Railroad Pass - Texas Acres

Texas Acres -