Old Spanish Trail / Mormon Road Historic District: A National Register of Historic Places Nomination, Nevada

Description

Urban expansion in southern Nevada is rapidly encroaching upon land that was only recently considered isolated desert. Within this once isolated desert, now caught in the web of urban development, is the route of the Old Spanish Trail, which extends from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Southern California and crosses portions of six states. Through southern Nevada, the route covered approximately 152 miles from the Arizona to the California border. After 1850, the Trail was used mainly for transport between Salt Lake City and San Bernardino and became known as the Mormon Road. As an important cultural resource in southern Nevada, the Trail was documented by archaeologists and nominated to the National Register of Historic Places as the historic route mapped by Frémont.