Arrival of Miguel A. Otero's Funeral Train in 1882 Photo from Donnelly Collection #1589 Courtesy of the Citizens' Committee for Historic Preservation

14. Depot Hotel

E of Tracks between Lincoln & Douglas

1882-ca. l890

On July 4, 1879 the A. T. & S. F. railroad reached Las Vegas; celebration began at two Grand Balls, one in Old Town at the Exchange, and one in New Town at Close & Patterson's Variety Hall. A few days earlier the railroad towns of El Moro, northeast of Trinidad CO., and Otero, south of Raton N.M., were dismantled much like a carnival, put on trains, and transported to Las Vegas. Immediately it was booming in this end-of-track town. Off the train spilled railroad employees, merchants, carpenters, businesses that were following the track, gamblers, con men, and outlaws. The Depot Hotel was created primarily as a lunchroom/dining hall for traveling passengers, its proprietor was the railroad's famous English restauranteur Frederick Henry Harvey. Harvey later operated the Montezuma and the Casteneda Hotels of Las Vegas. This building was removed by the railroad as the new depot and the Casteneda Hotel made this hotel superfluous.

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