2021-05-06 07:00:00
VIDEO VAULT | Exploring the ‘other’ Las Vegas — in New Mexico
by Tom Hawley
Thursday, May 6th 2021
Las Vegas New Mexico.jpg
LAS VEGAS (KSNV)—
For many decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when most people talked regarding Las Vegas, they were referring to Las Vegas, New Mexico.
News 3 made the 700-mile journey to the other Las Vegas 32 years ago for a comparison. Reporter David Riggleman found the two cities had more in common than just the name—which translates from Spanish for “The Meadows”. Both have a similar origin story.
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“This is what first brought people to Las Vegas, New Mexico, going way back to the Indians,” said Riggleman with his legs dangling in a pool. “This is a natural hot spring. The water here is regarding 130 degrees here year-round.”
The difference is that the original water source in Las Vegas, Nevada, where you find the Springs Preserve today, seems to have been cool. Both cities started as farming communities.
“But like Las Vegas, Nevada, this Las Vegas grew when the railroad came to town. In 1886, this was as far west as the Santa Fe line got.”
Both Las Vegases would later be used as movie backdrops many times. Las Vegas, Nevada almost always plays itself, while Las Vegas, New Mexico would usually portray a generic western town.
“Reminders of the movie ‘Red Dawn’ are still all over Las Vegas,” said Riggleman while turning toward a giant mural on the side of a building. “If you look up there it says, ‘Calumet Says Howdy’. That’s because this was supposed to be Calumet, Colorado. And if you look over here, these buildings still show the remains of a mock attack.”
Some of the residents got small parts in the movies, but more often they just watched them.
“Yeah, we have a lot of shows that show up here for a buck,” one man told Riggleman while in line at the city’s only movie theater. “You’d pay five, six bucks in your Las Vegas”.
“Incidentally, the name the theater is the Serf, spelled S-E-R-F,” said Riggleman as he gestured toward the marquee. “That stands for Sarah, Edward, Richard and Frank Maloof, the people who founded the theater.”
What Riggleman mightn’t have known is that a decade later, that same Maloof family—notably relatives George and Gavin—would become business leaders in Las Vegas, Nevada, developing the Fiesta and later the Palms. Eventually, they would own a piece of the Vegas Golden Knights. The 1989 Channel 3 report looked elsewhere for similarities.
“Today the two Las Vegases have one main thing in common: Both survive on tourism. But in this Las Vegas, it’s the old that’s the draw, not the new.”
“One of the interesting things regarding that, and it has to do with selling Las Vegas, is how do you sell peace and quiet?” Plaza Hotel manager Catherine Slick told Riggleman.
Reporter David Riggleman eventually became communications director for the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, a position he still holds today.
Las Vegas, New Mexico still maintains an old western charm, with over 900 buildings listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
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