Cragin had roles in theater, city politics and business

The namesake behind Cragin Park, Ernie W. Cragin, represents a former Las Vegas mayor, theater owner and insurance salesman. Known for controversial views on minorities in Las Vegas during the Great Depression, Cragin left his mark on the valley in unique ways.

Born in Wyoming in 1895, Cragin's father's work with the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad brought him to Las Vegas in 1911. Cragin worked for railroads and theaters before running the Airdome, a theater downtown at Fremont and Third streets.

Cragin eventually opened the El Portal Theatre in 1928, alongside William Pike, with whom he partnered in Cragin & Pike, an insurance company that still exists . The El Portal Theatre on Fremont Street was Las Vegas' only movie theater at the time.

Longtime Las Vegas resident Lena Sharp said she remembers watching movies at the theater with classmate Marleau Cragin, Ernie Cragin's only child.

"Marleau was in our class (at Las Vegas High School), and we had some privileges because of that," Sharp said. "We were lucky to go because it was a depression, and we didn't have the money to go."

A Native American arts and crafts store is housed in the former El Portal Theatre site, 310 Fremont St . Cragin continued to run the theater until his death in 1959.

According to a 1999 Las Vegas Review-Journal article, resident Harley E. Harmon said, "Blacks and the noticeably Hispanic were steered to the left (in the theater); whites could sit on the right or in the middle" at the El Portal Theatre. It was one way people criticized Cragin for unfair treatment of blacks.

As mayor, after being elected in 1931, Cragin faced more criticism regarding a lack of attention to the West Las Vegas neighborhood. According to the same Review-Journal article, "(b)y the accounts of black Las Vegans, he didn't prioritize fairly and his failure to do so made West Las Vegas one of the worst slums in the West."

Cragin was, however, praised for some of his moves as mayor. They included increasing and enforcing the speed limit, banning parking from 1 to 6 a.m. for street sweeping and recognizing the police department's writing "too many traffic tickets for petty offenses" and firing the chief. Cragin wanted to "let the world know Las Vegas is a good place to live in," he said, and the mayor worked to build pools, a new police station and pave streets. He attempted to annex the Strip in 1946, but former mobster and Flamingo executive Gus Greenbaum won the fight, leading to the establishment of Paradise Valley.

When Cragin lost re-election to Leonard Arnett in 1935, he helped establish the Elks Club's Helldorado Days, a weeklong rodeo celebration that still exists . The festival was created to help Hoover Dam workers let loose and expose residents to Western heritage.

Cragin served two more terms as mayor, running unopposed in 1943 and serv ing until 1951. He faced budget cuts and layoffs among employees during the dam boom yet contributed to the growth of the valley's population , according to Sharp.

"I tell people I grew up in a small town in Nevada," Sharp said, laughing. "It's kind of fun saying you're coming from a small town and seeing it grow so much in all these years."

Contact Paradise/Downtown View reporter Lisa Carter at lcarter@viewnews.com or 383-4686.