Celebrate Sunset Park’s 50th with a tour led by ‘Pawn Star’ Mark Hall-Patton
Las Vegans’ favorite park turns 50 this month, and Clark County will celebrate by offering a one-time historical tour of the property on Friday.
“Since the beginning, from prehistoric times to the present, people have used that land,” said Mark Hall-Patton, administrator for the Clark County Museum system and the day’s tour guide. “This was one of the places in the Vegas Valley that had flowing water.”
Hall-Patton is known the world round for his appearances on “Pawn Stars.”
That place is Sunset Park, the county’s oldest and largest regional park.
Lying directly southeast of McCarran International Airport, its 324 acres are home to a variety of sports facilities, miles of trails, a fishable pond and five playgrounds, among other amenities.
The park is also one of the county’s last places that have the historic sand dunes that once covered the town of Paradise.
Sunset Park has won the Readers’ Choice Award for the Best Park in the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Best of Las Vegas poll 27 times in the awards’ 35 years of existence.
“It’s the crown jewel in our parks system,” said County Commissioner Mary Beth Scow, whose children spent many a day on the park’s sand volleyball courts. “It offers so many activities to people. I think it’s a wonderfully special place.”
But the land was a special place long before the morning of Jan. 20, 1967, when the county bought the property for nearly $1.1 million.
A thousand years ago, members of the Paiute Indian Tribe lived on the land because it was one of two places in the Las Vegas Valley with water flowing above ground, Hall-Patton said. That feature made the area a popular stop for traders and travelers.
“This was not the Colorado River. It was a small creek, but it flowed year round,” Hall-Patton said. “When you’re in the desert, any place that has flowing water, people go to.”
Centuries passed and what’s now Sunset Park became a ranch for horse breeding and training. A foreman’s house from the property’s ranching days still stands.
J. Kell Houssels, a casino operator and former owner of the property, had dreams of turning it into a golf resort, but could not get the water rights from the state, according to Clark County. Houssels sold the property to a group of investors, who in turn sold it to the county.
“It was clear by the ’60s that we needed to have parks,” Hall-Patton said. “We had grown consistently, but we had grown fairly slowly, and even though we were this destination for tourists … we were still a little tiny place.”
The historical walking tour of Sunset Park will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday and last about an hour. Those interested in attending, but have difficulties walking long distances, should RSVP for assistance at 702-455-8200.
Park visitors can share photos, videos and memories from the park on social media using the hashtag #SunsetPark50.
Clark County Television is also airing a special 50th anniversary report about the park throughout January and February. The program is also available online at YouTube.com/ClarkCountyNV.
Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.