City Protects Treasured Park’s History
The Las Vegas City Council added Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs to the city’s historic register at a recent council meeting. The historic park is located at 9200 Tule Springs Road in the Centennial Hills area of the city. The city of Las Vegas Historic Preservation Commission determined the park was eligible for designation due to its exceptional significance and distinctive character.
Some of the criteria that the park met to achieve this designation include:
• It meets the criteria for listing on the State or National Register of Historic Places.
• It is at least 50 years old.
• It is reflective of the city’s cultural, social, political or economic past.
• It is associated with a person or event significant in local, state or national history.
• It includes a substantial concentration of properties, buildings or structures which contribute generally to the overall distinctive character of the area and are united historically.
• The area includes or is composed of one or more archeological sites.
Any future projects located within this new historic district must be approved by the Historic Preservation Commission, to ensure that the historic nature of the park is sustained.
The historic district includes approximately 23 historic buildings and structures that were part of the day-to-day operations of the ranch including a pump house, foreman’s house, adobe hut, stables and water tower.
Tule Springs was originally named for the thick growth of tules, or cattails, at the location and became a stop on the stage line connecting Las Vegas and the Bullfrog District in the early 1900’s. John Herbert (Bert) Nay, the son of Mormon pioneers, first filed for water rights to the springs in 1916.
The property changed hands often through the years until purchased in 1941 by Prosper Jacob Goumond. He expanded the ranch to 880 acres and raised cattle and alfalfa. In 1949 Goumond started a new service and began operating a “divorce ranch.”
The liberalization of Nevada’s divorce laws in the 1930’s resulted in the development of the divorce industry. Specialized ranches were used by those wanting a divorce but needing to meet Nevada’s residency requirement of six weeks. The ranch at the park is considered one of the finest remaining examples of a “divorce ranch” in the nation.
The city of Las Vegas purchased the ranch in 1964, and operated it as a city park under the name Tule Springs Park. As operational costs rose, the city offered the park to the State of Nevada. Upon acquisition by the state in 1977, it was renamed Floyd Lamb State Park after the chair of the state legislature’s Finance committee.
In July 2007, the city reacquired the park and the Recreation and Public Purposes leases for adjacent land after completing a required master plan for the park. Another condition of the transfer was that the park would retain the name of Floyd Lamb. The park was then renamed Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs to recognize its origins.
To view the master plan for the park, visit www.lasvegasnevada.gov/Planning and select “master and special area plans.” Copies of the plan are also available for purchase at the front counter of the Development Services Center, located at 731 S. Fourth St.
