Built in 1884, the two are loosely modeled after the palazzos of Italian Renaissance merchant princes. The style is distinguished by heavy, decorative hoods over arched windows and ornate cornices" (Historic Las Vegas, New Mexico brochure).
This 1885 building housed a weekly newspaper before being taken over in 1897 by the Stern and Nahm dry goods firm.
The artwork along the roof line was intricate and impressive.
This 1913 Neo-Classical style fire house replaced the original 1909 wood frame fire house.
Unfortunately, I did not photograph the entire building on the right (above). "It was once home to the West Las Vegas Town police station and jail. The jail sequence in the movie Easy Rider was filmed in this historic building in 1968.
We headed toward the Carnegie Park District section of the town. At the Center of the Park was the Carnegie Library.
This library, modeled after Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, is one of the many small town libraries built by a grant from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It is "one of a handful of Carnegie Libraries that still perates as a library."
By the 1890s, the residential boom completely encircled the Park. Three of the homes around the Park are shown below.
This home, built in 1895, is "one of the finest Queen Anne houses in New Mexico.... Sheer exuberance is evident in the choice and juxtaposition of materials, the
"The off-center columned porch of this 1895 Queen Anne style home is unusual but consistent with the eclectic spirit of the period.
We just photographed this distinctive feature of this home--the three-story octagonal tower with a Mansard roof, punctuated by porthole windows and capped by an iron-crested widow's walk." When built in 1881, this house "was the epitome of Victorian eclecticism...."
Then it was on to the Railroad District.
Built in 1899 and renovated in 2003, the Depot is the city's intermodal transportation facility. Amtrak stops here twice a day.
And for passengers planning a stay in Las Vegas, there is the nearby hotel. Well, maybe....
Built in 1898 to be a jewel in Fred Harvey's famed chain of railroad hotels, La Castaneda was one of the early Harvey Houses to be built in the Mission Revival Style.
In the course of our conversation with folks in the Visitor Center, we learned that there may be plans to renovate the Hotel. That would be great.
And on to the Lincoln Park neighborhood, which was to become one of Las Vegas' most fashionable neighborhoods by 1900.
This house (1883) is "one of New Mexico's finest Italianate Villas. A square corner tower with mansard roof and cast iron cresting accents the asymmetry and massing of the house plan.
Built in 1898 and signifying a resurgence in the local economy after an economic panic of 1893, the building's "tile roofs on the corner pavilions and buff-colored Roman bricks mark the California Mission style."
(Behind the traffic light, the Murphey's Drug Store sign is barely visible.)
Identified as "the finest surviving example of Richardsonian Romanesque style in New Mexico," the 1894 Masonic temple is constructed from locally quarried purple sandstone.
The commitment to historic preservation runs through the life of Las Vegas.
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