Walking Box Ranch, 7 mi (11 km) west of Searchlight, Nevada in the Mojave Desert, was founded in 1931 by the actors Rex Bell and Clara Bow as a working 400,000 acres (160,000 ha) ranch.[2][3] The ranch covered 160 acres (65 ha)[4] at the time it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 30, 2009.[5] The ranch includes four buildings[4] and is owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).[6]
Walking Box Ranch | |
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| Location | Clark County, at 6333 West State Route 164 Searchlight, Nevada |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°29′22″N 115°2′24.74″W / 35.48944°N 115.0402056°W |
| Area | 40 acres (16 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 08001392[1] |
| Added to NRHP | January 30, 2009[1] |
Over the years, Bell and Bow entertained many notable Hollywood figures, including Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Errol Flynn, and Lionel Barrymore.[5]
History
editThe Walking Box Ranch was purchased by Bell from the Rock Springs Cattle Company.[7] The company owned 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) in the Mojave Desert.[8]
The Nature Conservancy purchased 151,331 acres (61,241 ha) of land that surrounded the Walking Box Ranch in June 1994.[9]
The Walking Box Ranch was purchased by Las Vegas Gaming Investments in 2000[6] for $950,000.[10]
The Bureau of Land Management purchased the ranch and surrounding ranch site in 2005 using funds from the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA.) SNPLMA is also funding the restoration activities which include restoration of the ranch house, stabilization of other structures and infrastructure to support a museum.[11]
Listing on the National Register of Historic Places was one of the goals set out in April 2006 by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the Bureau of Land Management, co-managers of the property.[12] The listing was awarded on January 30, 2009.
References
edit- ^ a b "February 13, 2009". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ KALIL, J.M. (2000-12-20). "WALKING BOX RANCH: Sale brings less than third of asking price". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ KALIL, J.M. (2000-11-19). "Ranch sells for $650,000". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ a b "WALKING BOX RANCH HISTORICAL/CULTURAL GEM". Public Lands Institute. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ a b "UNLV AND BLM WORK TOGETHER TO PRESERVE HISTORIC RANCH" (Press release). University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 2006-04-11. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ a b "Caught in the Searchlight: Hsu, Reid, and the Searchlight Leadership Fund". 1918 News Server. 2007-09-14. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Rex Bell". b-westerns.com. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ "Rock Springs Land & Cattle Company". digital-desert.com. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
- ^ "Walking Box Ranch". The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ "Citizens Against Government Waste" (PDF). www.cagw.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 21, 2004. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^
This article incorporates public domain material from Free Tours of Walking Box Ranch Offered. Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ HOWARD, K.C. (2006-05-12). "'Walking Box' ranch recalled". Pahrump Valley Times. The Associated Press. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
