Fayle Family Papers, MS 98-18. Special Collections, UNLV Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Donated by Jane Louise Fayle Nordgren, 1998.
Kate Wintrol, 2004-2005.
This collection is open for research.
For permission to reproduce or publish from this collection, please contact the Director of Special Collections.
The Fayle Family’s association with southern Nevada began in 1904, when 23-year old George Arthur Fayle arrived at what was called Goodsprings Junction with nine horses and two ore wagons. Born in Los Angeles in 1881, he had previously worked hauling ore near Barstow, California. In later interviews, A determined, optimistic and driven man, George Fayle said he was drawn to this remote area of Nevada in order to take advantage of the considerable mineral wealth in the nearby mountains and he accurately predicted the boom in mining with the advent of railroad service.
In addition, Fayle’s uncle, Samuel E. Yount, operated a general merchandise store in Goodsprings, a small settlement seven miles from the new railroad junction. The store sold clothes, food and mining supplies to the nearby mining community.
A year after his arrival, George’s wife, Jean, and their two sons, Arthur and Leonard arrived at Goodsprings Junction. A native of Glasgow, Scotland, the former Jean Henderson had immigrated to California with her parents when she was ten. She had met George Fayle in Barstow, where her father worked as commissary agent for the Santa Fe Railroad. Not quite twenty when the couple married, Jean was a strong and capable wife. Like her husband, she had a spirit of adventure shown by her willingness to move to a desolate and sparsely populated area far from her family and home.
By the time of his wife’s arrival, George operated a tent store with an underground storage area for perishable foods. In his later years, Leonard Fayle recalled the family sleeping on the floor of the store in bedrolls that were stored under the counter during the day. A post office was soon established in the area and named Jean in honor of George’s wife who was the first postmistress. A daughter, aptly named Jean Nevada, was born in 1908.
The mining business exploded with the opening of a narrow gauge railroad where ore from the Yellow Pine Mine could be brought to Goodsprings for processing and then to Jean, where the ore would be transported for smelting. Besides operating the mercantile store, George and his uncle also handled the transactions between the miners and the smelters.
In 1912, George purchased half interest in the Goodsprings store; in 1915, Samuel Yount retired and George took over the business and moved his family to Goodsprings. The embodiment of the self-made man, George soon pursued other ventures, most notably the construction of the Pioneer Saloon and Hotel Fayle. The hotel, which boasted hot and cold running water as well as steam heat, opened in 1916. The grand opening was a gala affair with guests from Los Angeles and Clark County dancing throughout the night.
In addition to his business interests, George was elected in 1912 to the Board of County Commissioners and served until his death. He was also instrumental in the development of the mining industry and the creation of the Yellow Pine Mining District. Sadly, George died in the influenza epidemic of 1918 at the age of thirty-seven. At the time of his death, his estate was valued at over $175,000.
After George’s death, Jean moved the family to Los Angeles. In 1928 she remarried former Las Vegas Police Chief and businessman O.C. Boggs. Throughout her life, Jean remained active in the community as a member of civic organizations such as the American Red Cross, Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and Order of the Eastern Star as well as women’s clubs like Mesquite Club and the Hostess Club. She died in Las Vegas on January 9, 1950 at the age of 66.
Arthur Fayle, a long-time resident of Delano California, died on January 19, 1973. Arthur and his wife Roberta had two children, Roberta Jean and George A. Fayle. Jean Nevada Fayle married Howell Purdue, the assistant U.S. attorney for Los Angles, in 1933 and had one son, Burt Purdue. Jean died in 1941 and Burt lived with his grandmother in Las Vegas until her death in 1950.
Leonard Fayle graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1926, and married Anna Trapnell in 1932. Anna, a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, later received her master’s degree in education from University of California, Berkeley, and went on to teach high school in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Leonard and Anna had three children; two that reached maturity – Jane and Edward. Their eldest son, Leonard Ray Fayle Jr. died in a car accident at the age of seven in California.
After completing his education, Leonard moved to Delano, California where he owned and operated a tire store for eleven years. It was while living in California that Leonard met his future wife. With the advent of World War II, Leonard returned to Las Vegas and bought the Quality Bakery. In later newspaper articles, Leonard commented that he moved back to Nevada because he expected the war to revitalize the mining industry. However, the mines only opened on a small scale, the bakery business had to cope with frozen wages, sugar rationing and the black market. After several frustrating years, Leonard sold the business for a profit in 1951 and managed various family properties.
Paramount to the lives of Leonard and Anna was their involvement in civic and fraternal organizations. Leonard was an active and life-long member of Rotary International, Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Shiners of North America, and Royal Order of the Jesters. He was also active with the Masons, and was later named an Honorary 33 Degree Mason. Leonard was especially active in the Las Vegas Rotary, serving as president from 1949-50 and was named Rotarian of the Year in 1983.
In addition, Leonard volunteered for eight years with the Selective Service Administration and was an active member of the Republican Party. His ten years (1958-1968) of service as member and later chairman of the Las Vegas Valley Water District culminated in the opening of the Fayle Reservoir which was named in his honor. Perhaps Leonard’s most significant recognition came in 1970 when the University of Nevada Las Vegas honored him as a “Distinguished Nevadan.” Leonard died on July 27, 1983 at the age of 79.
Anna was also an active member of numerous Las Vegas service organizations. These included the Daughters of the Nile, Rotary Ann’s, Junior League, Literacy Advocates and the Mesquite Club. Anna Fayle died on October 30, 1996 at the age of 88.
Leonard and Anna are survived by their two children, Edward George Fayle and Jane Louise Fayle Nordgren and three grandchildren.
The collection consists of the business and personal papers of the Fayle Family, prominent southern Nevada pioneers. The majority of material centers on family patriarch George Fayle and his son, Leonard. There is material relating to George’s mining enterprises as well as photographs from the time period, newspaper articles illustrating the community reaction to his death and estate papers. Also included are ephemera pertaining to the Fayle Hotel – opening day activities and the hotel register.
Significant in the collection are hundred year-old courtship letters George wrote to his future bride, Jean Henderson. Such material document a wealth of details about daily life at the turn of the century. Jean Fayle was named executor after the death of her husband and the collection contains her business correspondence from 1918 to 1949, along with newspaper articles recording her involvement with civic organizations and Women’s clubs.
The papers of Leonard Fayle occupy the majority of the collection. Leonard saved a large amount of material chronicling college life in the 1920s – correspondence, photos, dance programs, grades and even term papers. There are also numerous items pertaining to Leonard’s business interests including Quality Bakery that he purchased at the start of World War II: correspondence, inventory, daily reports, invoices, ration books, sugar certificates and profit and loss statements covering the period 1944-51.
Besides an active life in business, Leonard was committed to community service. The collection has correspondence, photographs and newspaper articles concerning Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Regional Planning Commission, Las Vegas Valley Water District and the Selective Service Administration.
Throughout his life, Leonard was a member of many fraternal organizations. Material from Rotary International is quite broad: correspondence covers the years from 1930 to 1983, minutes from 1948-50, rosters from 1967-82, the Rotary Wheel from 1949-1983, programs, newspapers articles, photographs and ephemera. Leonard was also a member of the Las Vegas Shrine Club, the Masonic Lodge No. 32, the Royal Order of the Jesters and the collection contains photographs, newspaper articles, plaques, and certificates of appreciation pertaining to these organizations.
Leonard’s wife, Anna Trapnell, also saved correspondence and photographs from her college days at UCLA, along with wedding and baby congratulation cards. Like her husband, Anna was also involved in women’s service clubs and the collection has rosters, minutes and photographs of the Mesquite Club as well as photographs from the Daughters of the Nile and Junior League of Las Vegas. Anna, Leonard and their children Janie and Ed are featured in numerous newspaper photos and articles.
The family’s involvement with mining in San Bernardino, California and Nevada is extensively covered in the collection. Arraigned alphabetically under the name of individual mines or mining companies, the material ranges from correspondence to legal documents to geological maps and stock certificates. Several of the mines contain documents from the early 20th century - journals, dividend claims, mining patents, legal documents and correspondence detailing the time when southern Nevada was the largest producer of lead zinc ore in the west.
Additional photographs and documents were donated by Jane Fayle Nordgren in 2009 and will be made available as they are processed. Please consult the manuscripts librarian if you would like to see them.
This collection is organized into four series, within which are eight subseries.
The majority of photographs in this collection have been separated and placed in UNLV Photo Collection 0113.
For related topics and further information see the following collections:
Mss8, John L. Younts
Mss9, John L. Younts
MS 11 Mines and Mining