Henderson history: 'City of Destiny'

Since 1953, the city of Henderson has gained more than 200,000 residents, most of whom have arrived in the last five to 10 years.

In honor of the city's golden anniversary, a Henderson history primer:

• In 1931, construction on Hoover Dam begins. While many live in Boulder City, others decide to set up residence in Jericho Heights, also known as Midway City. The project finishes five years later.

• In 1935, Harry Springer stakes a claim on the largest deposits of brucite and magnesite in the world, 70 million tons, near Gabbs, Nev.

• During World War II, the British and American governments sneak plans for magnesium into the country. The government establishes the Basic Townsite for Basic Magnesium Inc. (now known as the LandWell Co.) workers. The name "Basic" refers to the process used to make magnesium.

• Construction of the 2,800-acre BMI plant begins only three months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and takes approximately two years to complete, employing more labor than the construction of Hoover Dam. At the height of the war effort, BMI employs 13,000 workers. People are recruited from all (48) states and nearly 60 percent of workers are blacks from the South. It also brings Colorado River water into Nevada for the first time. The water treatment facility and water main still operate on and under Water Street today.

• Sometime after Basic Townsite is founded the residents place a "B" on the Black Mountains as a show of pride. It is later adopted by the local high school.

• In March 1942 Midway City is renamed to Henderson in honor of U.S. Senator Charles Belknap Henderson.

• Basic Townsite's school, known as Victory High or the Townsite School, is located in buildings on Water Street, near where the Henderson Convention Center (220 Water St.) is today. The Railroad Pass School District merges with the Henderson School District in May 1946.

• When the war ends, the government puts the entire town up for sale. The state of Nevada buys it for $24 million, later selling off parts to private industry.

• In 1947, the Adrian Dominican Sisters buy the town's hospital from the War Assets Administration for $1.

• The chamber of commerce organizes Frontier Days in 1948 to celebrate the town's continued post-war existence. It becomes an annual town tradition. The name is later changed to Industrial Days.

• The 1950 U.S. Census population is 5,715.

• In 1952, BMI becomes Basic Management Inc. and the landlord of the town. Many of the former plant workers are offered a chance to buy their home for between $2,500 and $3,500.

• Basic High School opens at the modern-day Burkholder Middle School site, 355 W. Van Wagenen St., in 1952.

• Residents in Pittman and Basic townsites organize to petition the state for city incorporation. April 16, 1953, the city of Henderson is incorporated by court decree. It encompasses 13 square miles.

• In the mid-1950s, the Henderson School District merges with the Clark County School District.

• Frank Sinatra participates in a fund raising event for the city's first youth center in June 1954.

• In 1960, the official population is 12,525. In 20 years it nearly doubles to 23,376.

• In the 1960s, residents organize to protest the dumping of imported Russian titanium sponge, which is used to make titanium. In August 1968, the Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Tariff Commission will raise taxes on imported sponge. The higher tariff discourages further importation into Henderson.

• In July 1963 President John F. Kennedy signs Henderson Land Bill which grants 15,000 acres and doubles the city's size. Later in September he calls Henderson a "City of Destiny" during a Southern Nevada trip.

• When Basic High School moves to its latest facility at 400 N. Palo Verde Drive in the 1970s, students make a new "B" on the Rainbow Mountains, closer to the Wolf Pack's new home.

• Hank Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, buys 4,700 city-owned acres for Henderson's first master-planned community, Green Valley, in 1971.

• On May 4, 1988, the Pacific Engineering & Production Co. of Nevada, or PEPCON (now known as American Pacific Corp.), lights up the sky in a series of explosions that throws nearby cars off the road, sending an orange plume high above the plant, which was located in Henderson off what is now Interstate 215 near Gibson Road. The plant produces ammonium perchlorate, which is used in Pentagon rockets and the space shuttle. On May 4, nearly 4,500 tons sat at the plant.

• Lake Las Vegas, a $4 billion, 2,243-acre residential, resort master-planned community surrounding a constructed 320-acre lake, begins development in 1988 and opens in 1996. The Hyatt-Regency Hotel opens in 2000. Parts of the movie "America's Sweethearts" are filmed there. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel opens in 2003.

• In the early 1990s, Del Webb Corp., now a division of Pulte Homes, begins one of two master-planned communities in Henderson. Sun City MacDonald Ranch opens for sales in 1996 and plans for Anthem are already under way. The company purchases "environmentally sensitive" land and exchanges it for Bureau of Land Management property to build the Anthem master-planned community.

• Green Valley High School, 460 Arroyo Grande Blvd., opens in the fall of 1991. It becomes one of the largest high schools in Nevada.

• In 1993 the state's only Veteran Memorial Wall is dedicated. It replaces a Henderson memorial at the corner of Basic Road and Water Street largely created using an American War Mothers list managed by Henderson resident Rhea Johnson, among others. The group began keeping track of local veterans during the Vietnam War.

• Green Valley Parkway connects to Warm Springs Road (building south from Sunset Road) in 1994.

• In February 1996, the Galleria at Sunset mall opens eventually anchoring Nevada's largest commercial corridor.

• In 1996, the Henderson Chamber of Commerce changes the name of Industrial Days to Heritage Days.

• Sunset Station opens in 1997.

• The Reserve opens in 1998.

• The 215 Beltway connects to Henderson in 1997 and eventually terminates at Gibson Road.

• In 1999, the Heritage Days parade is the site of a protest by local residents angry over a City Council decision to not allow a movie production studio in the Wagonwheel Industrial Park.

• Foothill High School, 800 College Drive, opens in 1999. The first class to attend all four years at the school will graduate this spring.

• St. Rose Dominican Hospital opens the Siena campus, its second, in July 2000.

• Coronado High School, 1001 Coronado Center Drive, opens in 2001.

• Green Valley Ranch (Station) Casino opens Dec. 18, 2001, nearly completing the Green Valley master plan. Station Casinos buys The Reserve, remodels it and renames it The Fiesta Henderson.

• In 2002, the Nevada State College opens in a city-owned building in the Wagonwheel Industrial Park.


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