If all Walter Zick and partner Harris Sharpe ever designed was the Mint Hotel and it's beautiful neon sign that would be enough.

But Walter Zick designed much more than just the most beloved, lost neon sign of Las Vegas.  He designed a variety of commercial buildings, mainly banks, schools and residential homes.

A lot of his architecture is still standing which is really amazing considering the reputation Las Vegas has with preserving history.

As noted here earlier this year, we became much more aware of Walter Zick's architectural contribution to the Las Vegas Valley when we got a disc from Jack LeVine over at VeryVintageVegas that had been put together by Zick's daughters in hopes of having a school in the Valley named after their father.

While the School District turned down the daughters, we came up with an idea and working with the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas and Nevada Humanities, we received a grant to do a program centered around Walter Zick and his mid-century architecture.

On October 3rd we will have a panel discussion at the State Museum on the work of Walter Zick.  Confirmed panelists include our favorite mid-century author and historian, Alan Hess, Assemblage Studios' architect, Eric Strain, Karen Zick Goff and her sister, Claire and neon designer, Brian "Buzz" Leming.

Following the discussion, there will be an afternoon bus tour of some of Zick's still-standing architecture.  The final stop on the tour will be the Morelli House.  Though Zick did not design the Morelli House, it's mid-century architecture makes it a perfect place to have a small reception before returning to the State Museum.

We are currently working out the bus route, which we hope will include a few stops so that we can see the interiors of some of the buildings.  Once we have all the details worked out, we will post them here.

Seating for the bus tour is limited and reservations will be necessary.  Once we have the reservation number working, we will post that as well.

So, subscribe to this blog because you are not going to want to miss this.  If you ever wondered what happened to mid-century modern Las Vegas or how it came to be, this is the program for you.  If, like me, you've always appreciated how modern our Valley truly was, you won't want to miss this program.

It's going to be historic, fact-filled and lots of fun.

So, stay tuned.

This program made possible by Nevada Humanities and the Nevada State Museum and the generous donations of VeryVintageVegas, the Friends of Classic Las Vegas, Brian "Paco" Alvarez and the Junior League of Las Vegas.

It doesn't look like it now, though the bones are all still there if you look close enough, but when I was a kid growing up in Las Vegas, McCarran Airport was a mid-century modern oasis.

The new terminal was designed by Los Angeles architect, Welton Beckett and it fit right in with the space age theme that was prevalant back then.  From the Landmark tower to the Convention Center, the new terminal would be right at home.

The Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas has a wonderful collection of photographs and negatives from one of the busiest and best photographers of that era, Jay Florian Mitchell.  Mitchell came to Las Vegas in the early 1950s and began photographing the town.  You can chart the transformation of Las Vegas from a town into a growing city by looking at the photos and negatives that are in this collection.  Mitchell's work spans the mid-1950s to the late 1970s and includes aerials.

Here are some of McCarran Airport:

This is our last installment of this week's walk down memory lane.  Tomorrow, as promised, the point behind this trip down memory lane.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy and remember these places:

Blackjack Motel

Cardinal Motel (gone)

City Center Motel (gone)

Clark Inn Motel sign (gone)

El Sombrero Cafe (thankfully still standing)

El Dorado Club, 1988

Lucky Cuss Motel

Lucky Motel (still standing) but the sign is now in a private collection

New Town Tavern (thankfully still standing)

Showboat Sign (gone along with the Showboat)

Star View Motel (still standing) but the sign has been drastically altered

The Tod Motor Hotel (still going strong)

Fremont Street a long time ago

Las Vegas Convention Center Rotunda (gone)

Hacienda Horse and Rider preserved and restored and riding over Fremont Street

How many of these do you remember?

As promised, there is a point to all of this.

Coasters from the Mint Hotel (gone)

The Blue Angel Motel circa 1957

The Blue Angel Motel, circa 2007

Nevada Club tourists (gone)

Ad ad for the Lady Luck, circa 1973 (sort of gone)

Golden Goose, circa 1973 (gone)

Fremont Street, 1991

The Ambassador Motel - 1952-2007 (gone)

Union Pacific Train Depot (gone), 1970

Chamber of Commerce ad, 1948

Main Street, 2008

Swim-In-Pool sign, (gone for now)

Not exactly downtown but the Skyway Drive-In (gone)

St Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church

International House of Pancakes

Tomorrow Classic Las Vegas neon!

Thanks to Allen Sandquist (RoadsidePictures) for letting us use these images!

How many of these do you remember?

There's a point to this extended journey down Memory Lane, I promise.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy!

The Dunes Hotel (gone) Matchbook art

Aqueduct Building, Sands Hotel, 1991 (gone)

The Hacienda Hotel (gone) circa 1973 (notice all that desert)

Holiday Casino, circa 1970s (gone)

The Landmark, 1973 (gone)

Landmark, circa 1980s (sign is in the Neon Boneyard)

Las Vegas Strip, circa 1980s with the El Morocco (gone) and the La Concha lobby(moved) and its hotel wing (gone) in the foreground.

The Silver Slipper, circa 1970s (gone)

Stardust Hotel, circa early 1960s (gone)

Tropicana Hotel (signage gone) circa 1973

Thanks to Allen Sandquist (RoadsidePictures) for letting us use these images.