1914

Until 1914, when the railroad donated land for a city cemetery, people buried the dead in small family plots or on public land just north of the railroad-owened Las Vegas Ranch, east of Las Vegas Boulevard.

In pre-railroad times, the Paiute Indians and the few local ranchers set aside graveyards for family use. Other deceased were placed in an informal burial ground just north of Las Vegas Ranch. The markers for these graces eventually disappeared, and the burials were forgotten. In 1914, several prominent local women persuaded the railroad to donate ten acres of Las Vegas Ranch, just south of the unofficial graveyard, to be dedicated as a city cemetery. The city accepted the gift and chose the name Woodlawn. Since 1914, any early burials discovered outside the cemetery boundaries have been re-interred here.

Woodlawn management chose the gravestones for black citizens until 1939, when black residents asked for the right to choose their own plots. The city allowed a delegation from the black community to choose a section of the cemetery exclusively for black burials, and promised that Woodlawn would provide proper care of the graves.

Pictured left to right are prominent local attorney Harley Harmon, gunslinger Diamondfield Jack Davis, and local farmer Bill Tomiyasu whose produce helped feed those who built Hoover Dam. Other notables interred here are "Nick the Greek" Daneolos, a famous gambler who lost $500 million before he died penniless in 1964, and eight Civil War veterans.

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Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Cemetery
Las Vegas Paiute Colony
First Las Vegas Post Office
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Las Vegas Fort
The Las Vegas Mormon Fort
The Neon Boneyard Park Sign
Silver Slipper Gambling Hall
The "H" Wall

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