Arden, Nevada facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arden
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View of Arden from the west, with Henderson in the distance.
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 Arden, Nevada
Location in Nevada
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| Country | United States |
| State | Nevada |
| County | Clark |
| Founded | 1905 |
| Named for | Arden |
| Elevation | 2,484 ft (757 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP code |
89118
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| GNIS feature ID | 838496 |
Arden, Nevada was once a small community in Clark County, Nevada, USA. It was located about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Las Vegas. Today, this area is part of the town of Enterprise. Many new homes are being built there on land that used to belong to the government.
History of Arden
Early Days and the Railroad
In 1905, a train line called the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad started running through this area. This railroad later became part of the Union Pacific Railroad. The train station in Arden was named after a large estate in New York called Arden. This estate belonged to E. H. Harriman, who was a co-owner of the railroad. By 1906, Arden was an important place for shipping goods from the nearby Potosi mine.
The Arden post office opened in 1907. Around this time, a man named William K. Moore found large amounts of gypsum in the mountains nearby. Gypsum is a mineral used to make plaster. With help from business people in Southern California, Moore started the Arden Plaster Company. This company opened a factory in Arden in 1908. It was said to be the second largest gypsum factory in the entire country. A special narrow-gauge railroad was built to carry the gypsum from the mine, which was 5 miles away, to the factory.
Changes Over Time
The plaster factory burned down in 1912, but it was quickly rebuilt. In 1919, a company called the United States Gypsum Company bought the factory. However, the factory closed and was taken apart in 1930. This happened because there was less building work going on at that time.
In 1925, another train track was added. This track connected Arden to the Blue Diamond Mine, which was about 11 miles to the northwest.
A gravel pit was started in Arden in the mid-1950s. This pit was a place where gravel was dug up from the ground. It operated until 1978 and grew to be 160 acres in size. Today, a company has started digging for gravel there again.
During the 1950s or 1960s, Clark County built a fallout shelter in Arden. This shelter was meant to protect local government leaders if there was an attack on Las Vegas. The shelter was kept ready for use until at least the 1980s.
Plane Collision
On April 21, 1958, an airplane called United Airlines Flight 736 was carrying 47 people. It crashed into the empty desert about two miles southeast of Arden. This happened after it hit a United States Air Force jet fighter in the air. All 49 people on both aircraft were sadly killed.
The Arden post office closed in 1971. By 1981, Arden was a very small place with only about 40 people living there.
See also
In Spanish: Arden (Nevada) para niños
