Charles P. "Pop" Squires

From 1950 through 1958 Charles Pember “Pop” Squires wrote a column in Fabulous Las Vegas magazine recounting his memories of early Las Vegas.

As a collector of Fabulous Las Vegas magazines I have scanned the columns that I currently have on hand which are filled with great first-hand stories of early Las Vegas from the recollections of Pop Squires.

Portrait of Charles P. Squires taken in Los Angeles. Marceau in Los Angeles is listed as the photograph's creator.

At the beginning of the 20th century Las Vegas was just a water stop for the railroad that had extended the line between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. But a small group of people saw the potential of this dusty oasis in the desert. One of those people was Charles Pember Squires. Better known as "Pop" he was born May 22, 1865 to James P. Squires and Mary Albright Squires in Waterloo, Wisconsin. His family moved to California in 1887. On Aug. 21, 1889 he married his childhood sweetheart Delphine in Seattle, WA. They had been childhood sweethearts in Austin, Minnesota where they both attended school.

Pop Squires had previously lived in Seattle and in 1905, at the age of 40, he was in the real estate and land title business in Los Angeles. That year he paid $13.65 for a ticket on the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad Co. line for a trip to Las Vegas for the townsite auction.

He left Delphine and their children behind and they joined him in Las Vegas later in the year.

In the young Las Vegas he explored opportunities in merchandising and banking but is best known for starting the Las Vegas Age newspaper. The first issue of the Las Vegas Age was published in April 1905 before Las Vegas was even officially a town and was the town's longest continuously published newspaper. Pop Squires edited and published the Las Vegas Age until 1940 when he sold it to Frank F. Garside, the owner and publisher of the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Pop Squires and other men in Las Vegas circa 1905.

Pop Squires was one of the founders of the Nevada State Press Association. He was a staunch Republican, who served as postmaster of Las Vegas from 1922 to 1925 and held top offices on Republican committees.

He served as a member of the Nevada Colorado River Commission, as a director of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, master of the Las Vegas Masonic Lodge and a board member of the Episcopal church.

Pop held membership in the Las Vegas Rotary Club and edited their weekly bulletin for many years.

He also belonged to the Las Vegas lodge of Elks and for years acted as the official cooperative observer for the U. S. Weather Bureau, holding that post for 45 years.

City commissioners honored Mr. and Mrs. Squires in 1954 by naming a muncipal park play-

ground, Squires Park.

Pop Squires with other members of the Nevada Colorado River Commission

Delphine and C. P. Squires at their 60th wedding anniversary celebration at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, August 21, 1949

Charles Pember “Pop” Squires died at his home at 408 South 7th Street on Aug 12, 1958 at the age of 93, following a long period of failing health. He had been confined to his home for the previous year, but was able care for himself until three weeks before when he suffered a series of strokes. His wife Delphine was at his side when he passed away. Squires was also survived by two sons, Herbert Squires of Reno and Russell Squires of Arcadia, CA and one daughter, Mrs. C. C. Boyer of Las Vegas and several grandchildren and great grand children.

Use the menu below to read columns for the years as noted.

This is a non-commercial, educational, hobby site. Images on this site are from our personal collection and from personal collections of fellow enthusiasts who have shared their scans with us. Other images are noted by source with links to the original. If you feel that any image used here has infringed upon fair use of an image you hold the copyright to, please contact us at the links above and it will be credited or removed at your request.

Sources you might want to visit for more information include:

Newspaper Archive Newspapers.com UNLV Digital Collection UNLV Reno Las Vegas Sun mypubliclibrary.com

TCR numbers are used by express permission of SSS Publishing publishers of The Chip Rack.