‘Missing’ piece of Vegas returned to Douglas Avenue
Since the 1920s, an electric clock has adorned the sidewalk along Douglas Avenue in downtown Las Vegas. That is, until 2013, when strong winds broke the clock free from its base.
Thanks to the hard work of many people in the community, the clock has now been restored and returned to its home near the intersection of Douglas Avenue and Sixth Street.
The clock — original manufactured by Brown Street Clock Company of Monessen, Pennsylvania — was first installed by jewelry store owner R.G. Gordon in the late 1920s, according to historical information provided by the Las Vegas New Mexico Community Foundation. The jewelry store was later purchased by Calvin Baker Sr. and his wife Alnita, and the clock bearing the Gordon’s Jewelry name continued to greet customers for decades.
Baker’s son Calvin “Rusty” Baker Jr. eventually took over the business, but in 2013, he decided to close the store and sell the business’s assets, including the clock, which had become an iconic downtown fixture by then.
Longtime Las Vegas resident Bob Mishler, a former New Mexico Highlands University professor and founding chairman of the Las Vegas New Mexico Community Foundation, feared the clock could be sold to someone who would move it from Las Vegas. Determined to keep it a part of the Meadow City, Mishler purchased the clock.
