The Blue Diamond Elementary School is one of the oldest operating elementary school in Clark County. It has been open continuously since 1929.
Blue Diamond, a historical mining village near the base of the Spring Mountain Range and Red Rock Canyon, was originally known as Cottonwood Springs, currently called Cottonwood Ranch.
Early in the 20th century, prospectors discovered high quality gypsum in neighboring hills 23 miles west of Las Vegas. The mining claims and the Ranch property were bought by the Blue Diamond Gypsum Company. This company provided housing for workers and their families at the mining site. This property is known today as Blue Diamond.
Before there was a school in the Blue Diamond area, records from 1912 show a school in Arden, the closest community. We don’t know if there were children from Cottonwood Ranch who attended that school.
The local school began in the Village, which then was moved across the road and to the top of the hill where the mine was located. It then returned to the Village. The current Village School, built in 1942, was in the Blue Diamond School District until consolidation of the Clark County School District in 1956.
Early dwellers in the area were Native Americans. Cottonwood Springs was a stop on the Old Spanish Trail. In the 19th Century, during the time of trails and wagon roads, travelers and explorers camped at Cottonwood Springs.
Cottonwood Springs was part of the old Wilson Ranch. A one room adobe was the first house at Cottonwood in the late 1800’s. Over time the adobe house sheltered ranching and farming families.
Some early residents were prospectors, one of which was Vincent Atteucci. He located gypsum in the area in 1905. He and a mining partner sold their claims to the Los Angeles Blue Diamond Company in 1924.
The Village sits at the south end of what was known as Cottonwood Valley, now Red Rock Canyon.In the 1940’s, the mining company established the Village for married workers. The original name, Blue Diamondville, was shortened to Blue Diamond. In the 1960’s the Village was advertised in the Wall Street Journal and sold to a corporation, which in turn sold the homes to private owners. The Village residents were entrusted with the care of its historical central park area, a responsibility that continues today.
The gypsum mine, in operation since 1924, is considered one of the longest continuously operating mines in Nevada.
Blue Diamond Shule ya Msingi ni moja ya zamani ya uendeshaji wa shule ya msingi katika Clark County. Ilikuwa wazi kwa muda mrefu tangu 1929. Blue Diamond, kijiji cha kihistoria cha madini karibu na msingi wa Spring Mountain Range na Red Rock Canyon, awali ilijulikana kama Cottonwood Springs, sasa inaitwa Cottonwood Ranch. Katika karne ya 20, wachimbaji wa dhahabu walipata gypsum ya hali ya juu katika vilima vya jirani, maili 23 magharibi mwa Las Vegas. Madai ya madini na mali ya Ranch ilinunuliwa na Kampuni ya Blue Diamond Gypsum. Kampuni hiyo iliandaa makao kwa ajili ya wafanyakazi na familia zao katika eneo la uchimbaji. Eneo hilo leo linajulikana kama Blue Diamond. Kabla ya shule ya Blue Diamond, rekodi za mwaka 1912 zinaonyesha shule ya Arden, jamii iliyo karibu zaidi. Hatujui kama kulikuwa na watoto kutoka Cottonwood Ranch ambao walihudhuria shule hiyo. Shule ya mahali hapo ilianza katika Kijiji, ambacho kisha kilihamishwa kuvuka barabara na juu ya kilima ambapo mgodi ulikuwa. Kisha akarudi Kijiji. Shule ya Kijiji ya sasa, iliyojengwa mnamo 1942, ilikuwa katika Wilaya ya Shule ya Blue Diamond hadi kuunganishwa kwa Wilaya ya Shule ya Kaunti ya Clark mnamo 1956. Wakaaji wa mapema wa eneo hilo walikuwa Wenyeji wa Asili wa Amerika. Cottonwood Springs ilikuwa kituo kwenye Njia ya Kale ya Kihispania. Katika karne ya 19, wakati wa njia za magari, wasafiri na wavumbuzi walipiga kambi huko Cottonwood Springs. Cottonwood Springs ilikuwa sehemu ya shamba la zamani la Wilson. Nyumba ya chumba kimoja ya adobe ilikuwa nyumba ya kwanza huko Cottonwood mwishoni mwa miaka ya 1800. Baada ya muda nyumba hiyo ya udongo iliwahifadhi familia za wakulima na wakulima. Baadhi ya wakazi wa mapema walikuwa wachimbaji wa dhahabu, mmoja wao alikuwa Vincent Atteucci. Mwaka 1905 alipata gipsum katika eneo hilo. Mwaka 1924 yeye na mwenzake wa madini waliuza ardhi yao kwa kampuni ya Los Angeles Blue Diamond Company. Kijiji hicho kiko upande wa kusini wa kile kilichokuwa kinajulikana kama Bonde la Cottonwood, sasa Red Rock Canyon. Jina la awali, Blue Diamondville, lilipunguzwa kuwa Blue Diamond. Katika miaka ya 1960, kijiji hicho kilitangazwa katika Wall Street Journal na kuuzwa kwa shirika, ambalo lilinunua nyumba kwa wamiliki wa kibinafsi. Wakazi wa Kijiji hicho walipewa daraka la kutunza eneo lake la kihistoria la bustani kuu, daraka ambalo linaendelea leo. Mgodi wa gypsum, ulio katika operesheni tangu 1924, unachukuliwa kuwa moja ya migodi ya muda mrefu zaidi inayofanya kazi kwa kuendelea huko Nevada.