Recent rain notwithstanding, this month’s temperate weather so far — highs in the upper 50s; I rarely need a sweater to go out — has me dreamily nostalgic for a time when January meant winter. Like it did to these kindergarteners, 93 years ago this week. Storms had dumped 5 inches on the valley the day before.
From the Review-Journal at the time: “Las Vegas made woopee as a result of this unheard-of event for hundreds of local citizens, it was their first snowstorm, and they made the most of it …”
If you’re wondering why the Fifth Street School in this photo doesn’t have the graceful arches and tile roof of the historic Mission-style building we know today, that’s because this one burned down … twice.
Judging from this blog post by historian Lynn Zook, we're looking at the second version:
“The first one was built in 1908 and burned in 1910,” she writes. “The cornerstone for the second (at this location) was laid in 1910 and the school opened in 1911. Students from around the valley were invited to attend. Those who lived outside of town boarded with local families
for the school year.” That one burned, too, in the mid 1930s, and was rebuilt in 1936.
