Photo Essay: Highlights of Westside Las Vegas, a Treasure Trove of the City's Black History
When many people outside Las Vegas think of the city’s Black history, the careers of iconic entertainers like Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole, who performed there often, come to mind. But beyond the glitz and glamour of the Strip, Las Vegas boasts a lesser-known local history of Civil Rights activism—and many of its key players lived and worked in a neighborhood called the Historic Westside.
During the 1940s and 1950s, African Americans flocked to Las Vegas for jobs in the booming defense industry. Racist policies permitted by white leaders in the segregated city denied them the right to own homes—except on the Westside, which had long been a multiracial, working-class area. When Black stars like Davis and Cole performed on the Strip, hotels wouldn’t allow them to stay there; instead, they decamped to the Westside. Over time, the area developed into a thriving, majority-Black community, with shops and restaurants lining its main street, Jackson Avenue.
The city built this Mission Revival–style structure in 1923 (and added to it in 1928) so local children, including members of the Paiute tribe, could live within walking distance of their school. In 1948, as more Black residents moved to the Westside, a Ranch–style annex was built to accommodate the growing student population. The National Register–listed complex was rehabilitated in 2017 for $12.5 million and houses a community radio station, the Economic Opportunity Board of Clark County, and the Nevada Preservation Foundation. It's also part of the National Trust's Distinctive Destinations program.
photo by: Joe Buglewicz
Pioneering Black architect Paul R. Williams designed the National Register–listed Berkley Square housing development, completed in 1954.
New Bethel Baptist Church at 400 West Adams Ave. on the Westside.
photo by: Joe Buglewicz
Likely dating to the 1930s, the stone-and-stucco house was built by the Christensens, a prominent Black family in Las Vegas. Carrie Christensen lived in the house until the 1970s, and it eventually was bought by the local Catholic Worker community, which performs social justice work on the Westside. Carrie’s grandson Loyal Christensen, who visited the house as a child, says she would approve. “My grandmother was always very hospitable,” he says. “I thought that was perfect, the way that worked out.”
Jackson Avenue, called Jackson Street by locals, served as the Westside’s bustling commercial and retail strip during the 1950s and ’60s. One of many popular spots there was the Town Tavern, a Black-owned business when it opened in 1955. Later known as the New Town Tavern, it served soul food and hosted gaming and live music. It remained open off and on over the years, under various names, and is currently boarded up.
Pilgrim Church of Christ at 1515 D Street, built in the 1930s or ’40s, was one of the earliest Black congregations in the area. Like other Westside houses of worship, it provided a nexus for the neighborhood. “The churches were the foundation of the community,” says Brenda Williams, a longtime Westside resident, former St. James parishioner, and the first Black woman appointed to serve on the Las Vegas City Council.
Sherman Gardens Annex is a public housing development built circa 1965. Its buildings follow the Contemporary architectural style, with wide, low-sloped eaves; concrete block and stucco as the main exterior materials; and symmetrical forms.
The core of this building at 820 H St. was constructed by St. James the Apostle Catholic Church circa 1940. It was expanded over the next two decades and became one of the best-known predominantly Black Catholic churches in the city. St. James moved in the early 2000s, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church now occupies its old space.
As the national Civil Rights movement gained steam, activism on the Westside did the same. For example, in 1960, Westsider James McMillan, the first Black dentist in Las Vegas, headed an NAACP group that convinced local politicos to desegregate hotels and casinos. Resident Ethel Pearson, who now has a neighborhood park named after her, led a successful fight in 1968 to ensure that a new freeway would provide access between the Westside and downtown. And in 1971, the state of Nevada banned residential segregation, thanks to sustained efforts by Westside leaders.
More recently, years of disinvestment have taken a toll on many Westside buildings. In 2019, the Nevada Preservation Foundation received a $50,000 grant from the National Trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to commission an in-depth historic context survey of the neighborhood. Completed this past winter, the survey should help bolster future preservation efforts, which include a program to rehab old houses into affordable housing for the community.
Local preservationists hope to protect the area’s remaining historic fabric, a few highlights of which were captured for this story by photographer Joe Buglewicz. “I think people are really interested in hearing more about the area,” says Claytee White, director of the Oral History Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries. “Whenever we talk about it, people are on the edge of their seats.”
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