Summerlin Real Estate
Summerlin Information
The community of Summerlin is situated in a unique environment with geologic history and a lone relationship with man.
In the beginning there was water. And lots of it. A great inland sea covered Summerlin and all of Southern Nevada for millions of years and then receded, leaving behind a vast bed of grey limestone. From the beginning there was color: the orange fire of oxidized minerals embedded in the grey limestone, and the blood red of native sandstone.
The rugged outcroppings of red and grey stone that dominate the skyline today were formed 65 million years ago, in a single cataclysmic event called a fault thrust, when two crustal plates collided with such force that one was shoved up over the other. As if, with a single push, nature created a remarkable piece of landscaping, giving Summerlin the landmark rock formations that flank its western border and giving the community its strong Southwestern character.
Early Man
Summerlin's first inhabitants discovered the area 10,000 years ago. These unknown nomads were probably attracted by the cool mountain streams and the abundance of game. They gathered stores of agave, rice grass, pinyon nuts and mesquite.
Wagon Trains: A Cool Oasis on the Way West
Pauite Indians lived near Summerlin 800 years before the first white settlers crossed the valley in the mid-1800s. As these pioneer wagon trains headed for California, they stopped for cool water--a rare find at natural springs in the valley. Many must have noted the bold beauty of this land and the promise it held for the enterprising settler.
A community of Mormons pioneered the first settlement of the Las Vegas Valley in 1855, followed by miners and prospectors whose presence made small towns spring up overnight, only to disappear as restless treasure-seekers moved on. Other miners stayed and acquired land, opening the area to a long period of cattle ranching.
In 1906, efforts were made to open sandstone quarries in the foothills of the Charleston Red Rock Range, 20 miles west of Las Vegas. The red stone was said to be unusually strong and well suited for the delicate hand-carved ornamental detail of the period. However, the venture never prospered.
A Man, A Vision
The Red Rock area remained undeveloped, while the Las Vegas floor boomed. With the end of the Great Depression and completion of Hoover Dam in 1935, money, water and power flowed into the city. Casinos and hotels sprang up as the city became the playground for Hollywood stars and, in time, a vacation haven for the American public.
While the city grew the Summerlin land waited, undeveloped and essentially undiscovered. The potential was undeniable. Here was an unbroken parcel of land nearly 36 square miles, approximately 12 miles from the center of a major city, with remarkable promise. Stretching west from the edge of the city, sloping up to the Spring Mountain Range in the west, it offered topographical diversity, striking beauty, and a tempting opportunity. It caught the attention of aviator/industrialist Howard Hughes, who acquired it from the federal government through a land exchange in the early 1950's, just as the Korean War was beginning.
Hughes' plan was to build a research laboratory for Hughes Aircraft Company, which was quickly outgrowing its Culver City, California facilities on the strength of federal defense contracts earned through pioneering work in electronic weapons systems. But the laboratory was never built. Under pressure from company advisors, Hughes approved expansion at the Culver City location.
In 1966, the corporation that had been formed to acquire the land (known as Husite) was dissolved, and the land--assembled and protected with almost visionary zeal so many years--became just another parcel in the vast inventory of vacant lands. It remained dormant until 1985, when it passed intact to The Howard Hughes Corporation after Hughes' death.
The company felt a strong obligation to create a plan that would be the blueprint for a community that would live up to the promise of this land. Calling on leading designers, engineers, environmental experts and urban planners, The Howard Hughes Corporation spearheaded the three-year task of putting together the master plan that is now the guiding force for every aspect of development at
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Las Vegas Real Estate