Blue Diamond, NV A Historic Place - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

“In the beginning
The village of Blue Diamond, near the base of the Spring Mountain Range in Red Rock Canyon, was originally known as Cottonwood Springs. Between 1830 and 1848, Cottonwood Springs was a stop on the Old Spanish Trail for traders from Santa Fe to California. The trail became a wagon road, the Old Mormon Road, in use until 1905 when the 4railroad was completed.
In 1855, Mormon missionaries mentioned salvaging wagon parts at Cottonwood Springs. Lt. George Wheeler’s report in 1872 noted Paiutes growing pumpkins, melons and corn here. An adobe house built near the spring sometime between 1880 and 1893 was in use until the 1960s, when it was abandoned and deteriorated.
In 1903 the railroad acquired the spring and the surrounding 80-acre Cottonwood Ranch. From 1905 to the 1920s the ranch was used by a number of people, including Vincent Matteucci, who raised and supplied produce to Las Vegas and Goodsprings.
Birth of a Town
In 1925, Matteucci ans his business partner Peter Buol sold a gypsum mining claim in the nearby hills to the Blue Diamond Company of Los Angeles. Blue Diamond indicates high quality gypsum, comparable to “that of blue diamond among precious stones.”
The company operated a mine, housed workers and families at the mine site and shipped gypsum by rail to Los Angeles until they built a local plasterboard mill and a plant in 1941. They leased the Cottonwood Ranch property and, to accommodate the increased work force, built housing and a community there named Blue Diamond. Blue Diamond was a company owned town until 1965 when properties were sold to the public.
Today Blue Diamond is home to a few hundred people who enjoy the quiet, the stars at night, the freely roaming burros and the history of this beautiful place.”

Group that erected the marker: Clark County, NV Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Diamond St & Village Blvd. Blue Diamond, NV USA URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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