Whenever I fly out of town or look through Google Satellite, I notice a couple of very deep block-size holes, one on S. Durango between Peace and Tropicana, the other catty-corner to it on Peace between Durango and Cimmaron. Any idea what they're for? They've been there for years.
These are, collectively, known as the “Durango Pit.” These pits that you see flying west from Las Vegas 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 a hole 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 300 feet deep and it’s not possible to see the bottom of the larger pit without trespassing or … viewing them from an airplane.
