A Brief History of Henderson, Nevada

The city of Henderson has a rich and interesting history that is just about as interesting as the city itself is today. Named in honor of a beloved Senator, Charles B. Henderson, the town became famous during the Second World War by supplying the country with magnesium, the 'miracle metal' of the 1940s. But, their high status was not enjoyed by the town for long, due to the infamous PEPCON fire that took place about 40 years later. Today, the city continues to recover from this incident and develop and grow in increasingly interesting ways as the citizens forage ahead into the bright future.

The PEPCON disaster took place on May 4, 1988 near the town of Henderson at the Pacific Engineering Production Company of Nevada (PEPCON) plant. The chemical fire and the subsequent explosions that resulted from the fire claimed two lives, injured around 370 people, and caused approximately 100 million dollars worth of damage. This disaster was not an easy thing to recover from, and many families and residents were devastated by this event. Yet the citizens did not pack up their belongings and seek out Poughkeepsie NY homes or leave the area, they stood by Henderson and vowed to recover from this shocking event as a community. It is this communal fighting spirit that makes this city so alluring and successful today. In spite of this decidedly grim PEPCON detail in the short history of Henderson, there are many wonderful events and occurrences that the residents are proud of today.

Senator Henderson was born ten years prior to America's incorporation into World War II, with the construction of the Basic Magnesium Plant. The plant manufactured and supplied the US Military Department with magnesium for incendiary munition casings as well as airplane engines, frames, and all kinds of other parts, pretty much everything being shipped as far as Brampton real estate!

The magnesium plant was thriving and attracting many individuals and families to the region to work at the plant, bringing a boom to the region that was flourishing. However, things changed in 1947, when magnesium was no longer necessary for defense, which meant production ceased and most of the 14,000 employees at the production plant lost their jobs and were forced to or chose to move away. Enrollment in the local schools was reduced by at least two thirds, and well over half the houses, built specifically to house the thousands of plant workers, went vacant faster than haunted Oakville houses for sale.

Yet this was not something that was insurmountable for the town, nor its residents. With the help of local industry, in 1953 the City of Henderson, Nevada, was officially incorporated. Wasting no time (much like today's builders of Toronto condos, the new official residents of Henderson, with its modest population of 7,410, organized a mayoral election, selecting Dr. Jim French as the town's first Mayor a few months after the city was officially declared a city. Today many people, from manual laborers to retired Kitsilano real estate agents call Henderson home, and it is certainly worth a trip to see why this town could be your home too!