What Is That Giant Hole Near Tropicana and Jones?

What is that giant hole near the intersection of Tropicana and Jones? Looks like a strip mine.

There are, actually, two big holes in that neighborhood, one on S. Durango between Peace and Tropicana, the other catty-corner to it on Peace between Durango and Cimmaron.

These are, collectively, known as the “Durango Pit.” You get a great view of them flying west from Las Vegas -- and that's presumably where these questions over the years have come from.

The big holes are, as the question states, strip mines or open pits that have been and continue to be excavated for gravel for building projects. If you go to a landscaping place and buy gravel to cover your dirt driveway or make a path to your back door, it came from mines like these.

They’re owned by Wells Cargo, a family business started by Howard Wells, Sr., and his two brothers in 1935. Wells Cargo began as a one-truck operation that hauled goods to the lumber and mining camps in the Sierra Nevada — hence the "Cargo" — then got into construction. In fact, Wells Cargo, Inc. holds the lowest-numbered active contractor’s license in Nevada. Today, Howard’s grandson Guy is the president and CEO.

Wells Cargo started digging these pits decades ago, when no one imagined that the city would or could spread that far west. Now, of course, they’re right in the middle of the sprawl in the western valley. And they’re getting deeper. Our friendly source estimated they're currently up to 330 feet deep and it’s not possible to see the bottom of the larger pit without trespassing or … viewing them from an airplane.

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Kevin Lewis Mar-29-2025

Great places for a casino

"The Money Pit" "You're in the Hole" "Deep Delights"

I wonder if it's cooler down there in the summer? Ride the escalator down from the parking lot to our luxury hotel, built from the finest Las Vegas gravel and shaded from the desert sun by the walls of our exclusive hole...

Gene Brown Mar-29-2025

Kevin, I Hear You, Now!

Kevin is Alive and not being political, but very philosophically correct. No one rationally can challenge his statement, today. I am betting on that today! LOL

Tim Clark Mar-29-2025

words

Must be an American thing never heard the statement Catty corner we say Kitty corner here

Stewart Ethier Mar-29-2025

opposite corner

From the Internet:  In summary, while "catty-corner" and "kitty-corner" are both acceptable and widely used, the more accurate and original form is "cater-corner" which comes from the French word "quatre".

Roger Gallizzi Mar-29-2025

Gilligan's Island

Isn't Dawn Wells,former Miss Nevada and MaryAnn on Gilligan's Island the daughter of the founder?

Marcus Leath Mar-29-2025

Answer to Roger

According to her Wikipedia page, she was born in Reno in 1938 and  "Her father owned a local Reno construction company called "Wells Cargo" ".  The page also states that she was suffering from dementia in 2020 when she died from COVID in Los Angeles at age 82.

Ken Kjelson Mar-29-2025

Keno

I remember the old Gaming Today publication given away at most sports books in Las Vegas.Every week there was an article by "Keno Lil" advising of various Keno strategies. I always kind of thought that in Keno you pick your numbers and hope for the best, and there really wasn't any strategies. Your thoughts?

Kevin Lewis Mar-29-2025

Ken

"Keno Lil" was nonsense, as there is no useful strategy for keno other than "don't play." People like to do stuff like group numbers and such but they don't realize that from a mathematical standpoint, 1 and 80 are as "next to" each other as 34 and 35. No way you can fiddle with the arrangement to increase your winning chances.

Raymond Mar-29-2025

At some point...

...someone is going to move into that area and sue Wells Cargo for being a "nuisance", never mind how long they've been there.

It's like people who move into a new subdivision next to an airport and then get upset because of the noise.

Crazy Mar-29-2025

Thanks for the reply

That was my question, I appreciate the answer.
I did not see it from the air, I saw it driving a few times,
I wasn’t sure of the exact intersection, I see I was off by a bit.

So far as Keno strategy, it reminds me of an old joke I heard
about the usefulness of what  a bowling TV analyst does.
“What do you think the strategy is here John?”
“Well Bob, I think he’s going to try to knock the pins down”

Ken Kjelson Mar-31-2025

Keno

Actually meant to submit the keno question as a question of the day. But couldn't agree with you more Kevin.

Question of the Day - 29 March 2025

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